Will silicon remain the dominant electronics material for the entire 21st century? [The Way I See it

Abstract

Will a novel material completely overtake silicon (Si) during this century? Will Silicon Valley be renamed Graphene Valley? That is the fundamental question that nanotechnology researchers face today. For this to happen, the novel materials have a lot to prove. Si has been the dominant electronics material since the latter half of the 20th century. Without the development of the Si chip, we would not be able to function as we do today. Modern-day devices using Si include: mobile phones, personal computers, wireless local area networks (LANs), and DVD players, to name a few. Not only has the commercial sector benefitted from Si technology but so has the military, which has been able to enhance their tracking and navigation systems for planes, ships, and submarines using miniature Si chips. Not long ago, Si won the CNN poll for the most influential invention, with 24% of the people voting for it.