There's plenty of room at the top

The virtuous cycle of integrated-circuit technology advancement has been sustained for over 50 years, resulting in the proliferation of information technology (IT) with dramatic economic and social impact. Although there is still some “room at the bottom” today to manipulate and control matter at ever smaller scales, physics and economics limit the benefits of further transistor scaling. This paper discusses how the computational functionality and energy efficiency of microchips can be enhanced by integrating MEM switches on top of transistors, to sustain the IT revolution.