Beyond CMOS or More Moore technologies to power Next Generation Computers, communications, industrial and Defense Systems

In 1965 R&D Director at Fairchild (and later Intel co-founder) Gordon Moore predicted continued systemic declines in cost and increase in performance of integrated circuits in his paper “Cramming more components onto integrated circuits.”Moore’s Law which stated that the number of transistors on a chip will double approximately every two years has been the driver of semiconductor industry in boosting the complexity, computational performance and energy efficiency while reducing cost. It has led to substantial improvements in economic productivity and overall quality of life through proliferation of computers, communication, and other industrial and consumer electronics. Microelectronics and solid state components have also been the backbone of the military systems and were main contributors in advancement of radar, communication and electronic warfare systems.

However, Moore’s Law is becoming more  and more difficult. Transistors smaller than 7 nm will experience quantum tunnelling through their logic gates. Due to the costs involved in development, 5 nm is predicted to take longer to reach market than the 2 years estimated by Moore’s law. Beyond 7 nm, major technological advances would have to be made; possible candidates include vortex laser, MOSFET-BJT dual-mode transistor, 3D packaging, microfluidic cooling, PCMOS, vacuum transistors,t-rays, extreme ultraviolet lithography, carbon nanotube transistors,silicon photonics, graphene,  phosphorene, organic semiconductors, gallium arsenide, indium gallium arsenide, nano-patterning,and reconfigurable chaos-based microchips.

“You know one of the remarkable things about Moore’s Law is that Moore’s Law’s past seems preordained and ordinary, and Moore’s Law’s future is difficult and requires inventions,” Mistry told IEEE Spectrum.