Semiconductors

The Future of the Microprocessor Business

Customization and speed-to-market will drive the industry from the bottom up

The Silicon Solution

In the future, ordinary silicon chips will move data using light rather than electrons, unleashing nearly limitless bandwidth and revolutionizing computing

Seeing Double

Someday, chips might be made with X-rays. Until then, double-patterning lithography will be the only game in town

Engineering Jobs Follow the Money

But can engineers follow the jobs?

Patently Oblivious

IEEE Spectrum contributor Kirk Teska guides managers through the patent process

How Europe Missed The Transistor

The most important invention of the 20th century was conceived not just once, but twice

How We Found the Missing Memristor

The memristor—the functional equivalent of a synapse—could revolutionize circuit design

Transistors in Space

NASA tests new radiation-proof chips

First Exciton Integrated Circuit Built

Exciton ICs would negate the need to convert optical data to electrons and back again

I See You

Indium phosphide ICs unleash the high frequency spectrum

Just One Word—Plastics

Organic semiconductors could put cheap circuits everywhere and make flexible displays a reality

The Amazing Vanishing Transistor Act

Radical changes are in the offing for transistors as their dimensions shrink to a few tens of nanometers

The Silicon Solution

In the future, ordinary silicon chips will move data using light rather than electrons, unleashing nearly limitless bandwidth and revolutionizing computing

The dawn of organic electronics

Organic semiconductors are strong candidates for creating flexible, full-color displays and circuits on plastic

Chip Making's Singular Future

Beleaguered Chip Makers Are Counting On Single-Wafer Manufacturing, Which Makes ICs On One Wafer At A Time, To Cut Costs And Get Chips To Market Faster

Talk to the Machine

With better chips and faster algorithms, device makers are putting voice interfaces in PDAs, cellphones, and cars

The Future of the Microprocessor Business

Customization and speed-to-market will drive the industry from the bottom up

The New Indelible Memories

It's a three-way race in the multibillion-dollar memory sweepstakes

Graphene Could Make Nonvolatile Molecular Memory

European researchers build graphene-based switches

Could Belgian Diode Lead to Printable RFIDs?

Light From Silicon

For decades, silicon was a semiconducting dim bulb, but now we can make it into LEDs that match the best made from more exotic materials

The Amazing Vanishing Transistor Act

Radical changes are in the offing for transistors as their dimensions shrink to a few tens of nanometers

The Future of the Microprocessor Business

Customization and speed-to-market will drive the industry from the bottom up

How We Found the Missing Memristor

The memristor—the functional equivalent of a synapse—could revolutionize circuit design

As I Clearly Stated...Loser

Loser: Still Waiting For Nanotube Memory Chip

Nantero's alternative to flash memory has reached its sell-by date

Tell Us What You Think

Why Losers?

We don't do this because we're mean spirited. We do it because we care

Winner: The Ultimate Dielectric Is...Nothing

IBM packs wires in vacuum to speed chips and save power