Silicon nanoelectronics and beyond: An overview and recent developments

Abstract

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the invention of the first beam-lead device by Lepselter et al. Lepselter and coworkers proposed a method of fabricating a new semiconductor device structure and its application to high-frequency silicon switching transistors and ultra-high-speed integrated circuits. Beam-lead technology, also known as air-bridge technology, has established itself for its unsurpassed reliability in high-frequency silicon switching transistors and ultra-high-speed integrated circuits for telecommunications and missile systems. The beam-lead device became the first example of a commercial microelectromechanical structure (MEMS). Since its inception, MEMS has taken advantage of the evolving silicon technology, resulting in today’s nano-electromechanical structure and nano-optomechanical structure. In this paper, an overview of recent developments of silicon nanoelectronics is presented.