21st century gigascale integration (GSI)

Summary form only given. Throughout the past 35 years integrated electronics has advanced at a pace unmatched in technological history. Minimum feature sizes have declined by about a factor of 1/50, switching energy of a binary transition has decreased by approximately 1/105 times, the number of transistors per chip has multiplied by around 50/spl times/106, the price range of a chip has remained virtually unchanged and its reliability has increased manifold. As a consequence of these unprecedented advances, integrated electronics has been the principal driver of the modern information revolution. The ubiquitous microchip has had a profound and pervasive impact on our Lives. Consequently, future prospects for continuing the technological advance of integrated electronics are of paramount importance to society as a whole. The central thesis of this discussion is that future opportunities for multi-billion transistor chips-described as gigascale integration (GSI)-in the 21st century will be governed by a hierarchy of physical limits. The levels of this hierarchy can be codified as (1) fundamental, (2) material, (3) device, (4) circuit and (5) system.