Nanoelectronics may face miniaturization limits

From KurzweilAI.net — Nanotelectronics may only be able to be made so small due to quantum effects.

Future nanoelectronics may face obstacles

PhysOrg.com, Sep. 9, 2008 When the size of plasmonic nanoelectronic components approaches the nanometer level, all information will disappear before it has time to be transferred, imposing a limit on miniaturization, researchers at Umea University in Sweden and the University of Maryland suggest. They found that with plasmons (surface waves that spread at high speeds in conductors) on nanometer-size components, quantum effects kick in: electrons no longer act like particles but rather have a diffuse character, with their location and movement no longer being clearly defined, leading to the energy of the plasmon being dissipated and lost in the transfer of information.   Read Original Article>>