Date: 20/03/2007

Silicon based transistors are predicted to be obsolete by 2025

As the number of atoms in smallest silicon MOSFET has reached only few hundreds and further reduction in same process technology will be very difficult, so the physical size of a present transistor may come to halt in few years. It's very difficult to etch/dope and inter-connect silicon material below 10 nm as per present manufacturing process.

Than what next, it's going to be a totally different technology. It's going to be a mix of optical and magnetic signals inside some new material, which is yet to be invented. All the leading semiconductor IC vendors are doing some kind of joint research to lead among the race.

The latest such joint effort is by Micron Technology of USA. Micron has funded Washington University to invent or engineer some new material with the electrical, magnetic and optical characteristics to clear today's bottlenecks. However the Silicon will continue to be the base semiconductor material for many more years.