Nanomaterials in Nanoelectronics

This seminal report evaluates the impact of the technologies and materials that will enable next-generation nanoelectronic devices and lays forth a roadmap for future developments. As semiconductor devices are scaled to smaller and smaller sizes within the nanoregime, a variety of technological and economic problems arise, the rules of classical physics give way to quantum mechanics, and the term molecular-scale ultimately becomes as or more accurate than nanoscale. At this point, the size scaling that has successfully taken device features from the microscale to the nanoscale can no longer be continued, and alternative processing technologies, materials, and device structures are required. In this regime, nanostructured materials, including quantum dots, semiconductor nanowires, and carbon nanotubes, become critical to continued miniaturization and performance enhancement. Included in this report are a comprehensive patent analysis, company profiles, technology overview, and detailed look at the requirements for and challenges facing next-generation nanoelectronic devices.