Semiconductor industry

The semiconductor industry reflects and serves an extraordinary revolution in both materials science and in data processing and storage. As recently as 1980, most individuals had no idea that computers would ever impact their personal lives. Today, many families own one or two computers, and use many other computers and dedicated processor systems in their appliances and automobiles. The intrusion of electronics and computer technology into our lives and the devices we use daily is growing at an exponential rate, and Moore’s Law still applied in the computer world. This is one of the few markets in which, as time passes, the power and capacity of the products grows steadily, while the cost of that power and capacity drops.

Today, only twenty years later, we are continually pushing the envelope of capabilities of the data processing and storage systems that are now in the mainstream. Ingenuity and creativity, along with great strides in quality control, process control, and worker productivity, are leading daily to new ideas about how to further reduce device size and data density. On the horizon are visions of biochemicallybased devices which will be far smaller, work faster, and generate less heat than current devices. It is worth spending some time imagining where this evolving technology will take us, and the society we live in.