Towards the next node in downsized devices

Over the past 50 years, one notable trend in the progress of electronics technology has been the steady scaling down in physical size, widely known as Moore's Law. Over the next ten years the ability to continue miniaturizing devices within the existing technological framework faces some fundamental obstacles, and alternatives to traditional CMOS architectures are being investigated. Carbon nanotubes, the wonder material first discovered by Iijima in 1991 [1], have been proposed as a possible means of continuing the trend to down-size devices. This has initiated research into the thermal properties of carbon nanotubes that may affect device performance [2], as well as new synthesis techniques that allow control over the diameter and chirality [3], which are physical characteristics of carbon nanotubes that influence their electronic properties. Carbon nanotubes have been touted as a host of device challenges since their discovery, but an application with truly commercial benefits is yet to be devised. Although the vast potential in carbon nanotube applied research may not yet have tapped into the cashflow from mainstream commerce, the role they have played so far in advancing our understanding of the fundamental properties of systems at the nanoscale remains priceless.