Silicon technology has developed along virtually one single line: reducing the minimal size of lithographic features. But has this taken us to the point of diminishing returns? Are we now at a turning point in the logical evolution of microelectronics? Some believe that the semiconductor microelectronics industry has matured: the research game is over (comparisons with the steel industry are being made). Others believe that qualitative progress in hardware technology will come roaring back, based on innovative research. This debate, spirited as it is, is reflected in the pages of Future Trends in Microelectronics, where such questions are discussed. What kind of research does the silicon industry need to continue its expansion? What is the technical limit to shrinking Si devices? Is there any economic sense in pursuing this limit? What are the most attractive applications of optoelectronic hybrid systems? Are there any green pastures beyond the traditional semiconductor technologies? Identifying the scenario for the future evolution of microelectronics will present a tremendous opportunity for constructive action today.

A lively and thought-provoking look at the future of microelectronics

Nanotechnology has been named by the U.S. government as one of the most important areas of impending technology. It is a common view among leading professionals in microelectronics that current explosive developments in the field will likely lead to profound paradigm shifts in the near future. Identifying plausible scenarios for the forthcoming evolution of microelectronics presents a tremendous opportunity for constructive action today, especially since our economy and, indeed, our civilization seem destined to be irrevocably shaped by this technology.

Based on ideas and discussions arising from the third meeting in the Future Trends in Microelectronics (FTM) workshop series, held in the summer of 2001, this timely and intriguing contributed volume provides a unique forum for today’s leading experts in the semiconductor microelectronics field to discuss the future evolution of their profession. Demonstrating a diversity of opinions, leading professionals in industry, academia, and government address such provocative questions as:

• With CMOS scaling coming to an end, what kind of research does the silicon industry need to continue its expansion?
• What is the future beyond shrinking silicon devices?
• Is there practicality in the fashionable topics like quantum computing, molecular computing, spintronics, and similar research trends?
• What is the most likely future of microelectronics in the near and long term?

In this compilation of original research, contributors from academia, government, and industry provide assessments of important new ideas and approaches. The result is a lively, intelligent presentation of diverse points of view that should be required reading for professionals and students in both the microelectronic industry and academia.

First-generation semiconductors could not be properly termed "doped- they were simply very impure. Uncontrolled impurities hindered the discovery of physical laws, baffling researchers and evoking pessimism and derision in advocates of the burgeoning "pure" physical disciplines. The eventual banish ment of the "dirt" heralded a new era in semiconductor physics, an era that had "purity" as its motto. It was this era that yielded the successes of the 1950s and brought about a new technology of "semiconductor electronics." Experiments with pure crystals provided a powerful stimulus to the develop ment of semiconductor theory. New methods and theories were developed and tested: the effective-mass method for complex bands, the theory of impurity states, and the theory of kinetic phenomena. These developments constitute what is now known as semiconductor phys ics. In the last fifteen years, however, there has been a noticeable shift towards impure semiconductors - a shift which came about because it is precisely the impurities that are essential to a number of major semiconductor devices. Technology needs impure semiconductors, which unlike the first-generation items, are termed "doped" rather than "impure" to indicate that the impurity levels can now be controlled to a certain extent."

Silicon technology has developed along virtually one single line: reducing the minimal size of lithographic features. But has this taken us to the point of diminishing returns? Are we now at a turning point in the logical evolution of microelectronics? Some believe that the semiconductor microelectronics industry has matured: the research game is over (comparisons with the steel industry are being made). Others believe that qualitative progress in hardware technology will come roaring back, based on innovative research. This debate, spirited as it is, is reflected in the pages of Future Trends in Microelectronics, where such questions are discussed. What kind of research does the silicon industry need to continue its expansion? What is the technical limit to shrinking Si devices? Is there any economic sense in pursuing this limit? What are the most attractive applications of optoelectronic hybrid systems? Are there any green pastures beyond the traditional semiconductor technologies? Identifying the scenario for the future evolution of microelectronics will present a tremendous opportunity for constructive action today.