Nanotechnology has attracted significant research interest as CMOS approaches its physical limits. This article is a survey of devices and circuits for nanoelectronics. Novel devices that operate at the nanoscale (such as field-effect transistors, diodes, and molecular and mechanical switches) have been recently proposed and built. Additionally, nonvolatile devices that hold their states in a few molecules have been experimentally demonstrated, and researchers have shown different techniques to be effective in the assembly of nanometer-wide wires into large arrays. The reduced size of these devices requires completely new approaches to manufacturing and fabrication (such as self-assembly) with immediate implications and significant impact on circuit design and architectures. This article briefly reviews these various aspects of nanotechnology.
Index Terms:
nanotechnology, self-assembly, molecular electronics, manufacturing
Citation:
Jing Huang, Mariam Momenzadeh, Fabrizio Lombardi, "An Overview of Nanoscale Devices and Circuits," IEEE Design and Test of Computers, vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 304-311, July/Aug. 2007, doi:10.1109/MDT.2007.121