Beyond the silicon transistor: Personal observations

Innovation and future development in the field of information technology hardware is discussed. Currently the focus is on the carbon nanotube transistor which can be made smaller than the smallest silicon field effect transistor. It is predicted that manufacturing costs will be lower for such devices, since expensive lithographic patterning processes might be reduced in favor of cheaper processes relying on chemical self-assembly. The technologies that will dominate the future include DNA computing and quantum computers. These technologies provide amplification and a drop-in in terms of circuits and system architecture.