2009). Bets Practices for Continued Down-Scaling

It has been suggested that CMOS technologies, at the current rate of development and due to the purely physical constraints of atomic size, will only remain viable until 2020 (Skotnicki et al. 2005). At some point in the relatively near future, it must be acknowledged, CMOS technologies will simply not be able to grow any smaller and remain useful -- there are very real and entirely insurmountable physical barriers to perpetual down-scaling. There are, however, effective methods for extending the technology's viability.

Specifically, the development and implementation of new materials has shown the most -- and in some cases the only -- effective method for combating the problems that arise in the persistent and continuing attempts to scale down CMOS technologies while retaining or even improving the overall functionality and operational success of the components. The use if high-k gates to replace the standard materials used in CMOS technologies for over a decade, though not a perfect solution, shows great promise in allowing for finer and more complete control over voltage leakage problems and parasitic consumption/resistance issues (Houssa et al. 2006). The development pf phase-change materials, which enabled finer memory control at lower voltage levels -- which in and of itself reduces statis, resistance, leakage, and other corruptive qualities that stem from the physical control issues of an electric charge as well as other problems facing the scaled-down technologies -- has also been a highly important step in the development of scaled-down CMOS technologies, and research and development into this area should continue as well (Lankhorst 2005).

Conclusion

It is the nature of technology to change, and ultimately for technologies to be replaced by entirely new, if similarly modeled, developments. This will be the ultimate fate of CMOS technologies, and the pure physical limitations of down-scaling appear to be brining this eventuality about in the near future. Until that time, however, there is still both practicality and profitability...

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