Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Nanoelectronics: Now or Never?, Mark Lundstrom, Don and Carol Scifres Distinguished Professor and Director, NSF Network for Computational Nanotechnology, Purdue University

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Information Infrastructure Institute (ICUBE) and F. Wendell Miller Distinguished Lecture Series, 2004-2005

Mark Lundstrom, Don and Carol Scifres Distinguished Professor and Director, NSF Network for Computational Nanotechnology, Purdue University

1/24/2005, 1-2 p.m.  Alliant Energy-Lee Liu Auditorium

Lecture Title:

Nanoelectronics: Now or Never?

Abstract:

The transistor has been called the greatest invention of the 20th century. Along with the integrated circuit, it made our modern world possible.Moore?s Law, the doubling of the number of transistors on an integrated circuit chip every technology generation, has produced exponential increases in system performance for more than 40 years.  While Moore?s Law marches along, nano-and molecular electronics is in the news. Researchers have succeeded in constructing devices from individual (or a small number) of molecules. Will new ideas from nanotechnology change the field of electronic device technology, or will the evolutionary approaches that have been so successful for 40 years continue to fuel progress? It may not clear where the field of molecular electronics heading, but it certainly is giving us a new understanding of conduction in ultrasmall devices.  I will begin this talk with a brief discussion of conduction in molecules and show that it not only explains experiments but also makes successful predictions.  I will then show that this new conceptual picture provides fresh insights into the  performance and limits of ultrasmall MOSFETs. I?ll then address the question of whether any transistor (e.g. Ge, InAs, carbon nanotubes, conjugated organic molecules) can provide a significant advantage over the silicon MOSFET.  I will conclude by examining fundamental limits for transistors and digital systems and with my own thoughts on where electronic device technology is heading and what the role of unconventional nanotechnology will be.

Speaker Biography:

MARK LUNDSTROM is the Don and Carol Scifres Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue University where his teaching and research center on the physics, technology, and simulation of electronic devices. Lundstrom is the founding director of the NSF-funded Network for Computational Nanotechnology, which has a mission of research, education, leadership, and service to the nation?s National Nanotechnology Initiative.  He and serves on the leadership councils of the NASA-funded Institute for Nanoelectronics and Computing and the MARCO Focus Center for Materials, Structures, and Devices.  Lundstrom?s work has been recognized by several awards, most recently the 2002 IEEE Cledo Brunetti Award, which he shared with his colleague Supriyo Datta for their contributions to the physics and simulation of nanoscale electronics devices.