Abstract
A civilization often is named after the material which dominates in tool-making. Therefore historians speak of the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age. Following these lines our present time would be called Silicon Age [1]. Without doubt, information technology has a decisive influence on all aspects of our everyday life and the material basis of information technology is silicon. Will there be a Gallium-Arsenide Age in the future? Or a Diamond Age, or an Organic Age, a Molecular Electronics Age? Diamond can be used as a semiconductor at higher temperatures than silicon, and diamond has a better thermal conductivity. Organics (phtalocyanines, conjugated polymers, dye-stuffs etc.) allow for a higher integration density than inorganic semiconductors. Will the emergence of diamond, polymers, and fullerenes as high-tech materials lead to a Carbon Age following the Silicon Age? Mankind has invested hundreds of thousands of man-years into research and development (R&D) of silicon technology and consequently silicon is the
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