Nanoelectronics

395

Appendix K: Final Word

Publication history is replete with biases and conict of interest that is hard

to beat as peer-review process is the only process through which the qual-

ity of a publication is judged. The recent case of the Double Nobel win-

ner Linus Pauling is noteworthy for biases that are present. Pauling never

accepted the ndings of Daniel Shechtman who won the 2011 Nobel Prize in

chemistry for his discovery of quasi-crystals, a mosaic-like chemical struc-

ture that researchers previously thought was impossible. His keynote paper

was rejected, but nally published to uproar in the scientic world. With

similar biases present among the so-called leaders with multi-million- dollar

grants and self-interests, it is difcult to avoid humiliation to a “small sh

in a pond,” giving breathing space for them to not only survive, but also

thrive in scientic research. The current procedures to assure quality and

fairness seem to discourage scientic advancement, especially important

innovations, because ndings that conict with the current beliefs are often

judged to have defects. The leadership resides with the broad readership of

the journals, not with experts who are reluctant to appreciate the alterna-

tive paradigms being proposed. This book certainly provides an alternative

paradigm that conicts with the interest of supercial leaders in research.

This book seamlessly covers the physics-based paradigm valid for a wide

variety of nanoensembles with regimes from drift diffusion to ballistic trans-

port. The ideas presented take into account quantum connement, reduced

conducting channel length, and asymmetry of the electron distribution as

increasingly high elds are encountered. The described voyage from drift

diffusion to ballistic transport is consistent with Buttiker’s paradigm [1], with

each conducting channel a series of micro-resistors each of average length

equal to the mfp. The ends of a free-path resistor are virtual thermalizing

probes, one end being higher than the other end in the Fermi level (electro-

chemical potential) by the energy gained in an mfp. Within this scenario, car-

riers are removed from the device and injected into a virtual reservoir where

they are thermalized and reinjected into the ballistic channel with length

equal to an mfp. This description is also consistent with Natori’s model of

ballistic transport in the ballistic domain that is driven by the Fermi level of

the contacts [2]. In fact, Mugnaini and Iannaccone [3,4] validate our ballistic

model by applying it to a nanoscale MOSFET, both for ND and degenerate

statistics. Most undergraduate textbooks use ND statistics in its simplistic

form. However, modern nanoensembles are degenerate in their carrier con-

centration that requires degenerate statistics. With generalized carrier statis-

tics and a broad spectrum from drift diffusion to the ballistic domain, this

book will benet future investigators engaged in the research and devel-

opment. The ideas presented will encourage creativity and innovation in