Chip industry sets a plan for life after silicon

Vikingod · Dec 29, 2005, 02:27 PM

A handful of futuristic chipmaking technologies at the atomic scale have been added to an industry planning effort that charts the future of the semiconductor manufacturing industry every two years.

The transition to a post-silicon era is forecast in a report called the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors, to be issued Saturday. The report, which is produced cooperatively by semiconductor industry associations from Europe, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and the United States, is used by the semiconductor industry as a planning tool to determine how best to spend research and development money for new technology.
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Read More / Source: c|net

Matth · Dec 29, 2005, 03:24 PM

And whatever happened to Gallium Arsenide, or is it just not capable of supporting anything more complex than a single UHF and higher transistor (the GaAsFET that serves as the front end of many UHF and SHF devices).

There were predictions of a whole family of "3-5" semiconductors, based on one element with valency 3 and another with valency 5, instead of the valency 4 of Silicon.

Vikingod · Dec 29, 2005, 03:44 PM

I remember a bit about that (I think Cray made some into a supercomputer or something, can't remember, college computer classes are a long way away).
I think it was too expensive to make and silicon was easier created, used less power, and a better insulator.
It will be strange when silicon goes the way of the dodo, hard to imagine really. Will possibly be the biggest thing in this field in quite some time.

Dec 29, 2005, 02:27 PM	#1
Vikingod Int'l Fish Liaison Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: By the light of lamp I sit and type... Posts: 16,197 Rep Power: 112 System Specs	Chip industry sets a plan for life after silicon A handful of futuristic chipmaking technologies at the atomic scale have been added to an industry planning effort that charts the future of the semiconductor manufacturing industry every two years. The transition to a post-silicon era is forecast in a report called the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors, to be issued Saturday. The report, which is produced cooperatively by semiconductor industry associations from Europe, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and the United States, is used by the semiconductor industry as a planning tool to determine how best to spend research and development money for new technology. __________ Read More / Source: c\|net

Dec 29, 2005, 03:24 PM	#2
Matth Flash Banner Hater Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: UK Posts: 3,426 Rep Power: 93 System Specs	And whatever happened to Gallium Arsenide, or is it just not capable of supporting anything more complex than a single UHF and higher transistor (the GaAsFET that serves as the front end of many UHF and SHF devices). There were predictions of a whole family of "3-5" semiconductors, based on one element with valency 3 and another with valency 5, instead of the valency 4 of Silicon.

Dec 29, 2005, 03:44 PM	Thread Starter #3
Vikingod Int'l Fish Liaison Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: By the light of lamp I sit and type... Posts: 16,197 Rep Power: 112 System Specs	I remember a bit about that (I think Cray made some into a supercomputer or something, can't remember, college computer classes are a long way away). I think it was too expensive to make and silicon was easier created, used less power, and a better insulator. It will be strange when silicon goes the way of the dodo, hard to imagine really. Will possibly be the biggest thing in this field in quite some time.