Nanoscale electronic networks: materials to applications

在过去的50年里，电子工业的非凡成功导致了越来越强大和复杂的硅集成电路，其特征现在尺寸小于100纳米；这个机制被称为纳米级。随着这些特征尺寸的进一步缩小，计算机、消费电子和电信领域的持续进步变得越来越具有挑战性。业界预测，到本十年末，当特征尺寸达到20nm以下时，性能和制造方面的挑战将使集成电路有必要通过引入新材料和新器件来增加硅。碳基纳米结构已被确定为满足这些未来需求的重要候选材料。

The extraordinary success of the electronics industry over the past 50 years has led to increasingly powerful and complex silicon integrated circuits whose features now have dimensions less than 100 nm; a regime referred to as the nanoscale. As these feature sizes are reduced further, continued progress in computers, consumer electronics and telecommunications becomes increasingly challenging. Industry forecasts predict that by the end of this decade performance and manufacturing challenges when features sizes reach below 20 nm will make it necessary to augment silicon by introducing new materials and devices into integrated circuits. Carbon-based nanostructures have been identified as prominent candidates to meet these future requirements.