Microelectronics

Electronic devices have seen tremendous improvement since the discovery of electron. A brief history of the progress in microelectronics industry will be presented with emphasis on memory devices and information technology (IT). The limiting factors in the future progress will be discussed, and need for new concepts and devices will be established. Results of memories and logic circuits based on silicon nano-wires as single electron tunneling transistors (SETTs) will also be presented. Microelectronics research at Cavendish laboratory has resulted in a new device named PLEDM. Results are presented with the courtesy of Prof. H. Ahmed. This is shown to be a replacement of DRAM, which is currently the single largest selling electronic component. A new dimension of future microelectronics research will also be discussed