Functional Nanoscience: Present and Future

There have been many influences and drivers for the development of technologies that allow functional components to be constructed at smaller and smaller scale. The semiconductor revolution in the second half of the 20th century was driven by cost, speed, novel function,and power consumption. Semiconductor science and its child, large-scale integration of electronic circuitry, have been responsible for an unprecedented paradigm change in almost every aspect of human life. The change is arguably even more profound than that which resulted from the industrial revolution. As we shall see later in this paper, although the fundamental limits of Moore’s Law have not yet been reached, this and the increasing energy consumption of these paradigm-breaking technologies will necessitate another paradigm shift in the near future.