Nanotechnology: Science, Innovation, and Opportunity

Chapter 15. Microelectronics

The microelectronics industry has steadily improved the speed and efficiency of computing while simultaneously lowering costs in a highly predictable road map. This steady progression is popularly known as Moore’s Law, after Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel. Moore observed in 1965 that the number of transistors on a chip roughly doubles every two years.

Moore’s Law has been the metronome of the microelectronics industry: The predictability of “faster-better-cheaper” allows the industry to precisely plan for the future in areas from engineering to capital expenditures to marketing. It has benefited everyone who is in the industry or purchases its products.

However, the physical limits of the current paradigm in computing ...