HP Outlines Strategy for Molecular-scale Electronics

For the first time, HP (www.hp.com) has laid out in one place a comprehensive, practical strategy for a computing future beyond traditional silicon technology.

The vision - and the challenges - are captured in nearly two dozen papers published today in a special nanotechnology edition of Applied Physics A, the premier European journal of applied physics.

"We believe we have a practical, comprehensive strategy for moving computing beyond silicon to the world of molecular-scale electronics," said Stan Williams, HP Senior Fellow and director, Quantum Science Research (QSR), HP Labs.

Williams said that HP Labs has discussed these ideas separately before, but the special edition of Applied Physics A - which includes papers dealing with each of the three areas - provides an opportunity for a detailed look at HP's overall approach.

In conjunction with the publication, HP is pursuing the multi-tiered theme in an invitation-only international nanotechnology symposium at HP Labs on March 25. Michael Stuke, editor-in-chief, Applied Physics A, will join 16 prominent scientists from universities, national labs, scientific institutes and companies around the world at the event.

"Our special issue presents pioneering achievements by world-class experts in areas ranging from basic nanoscience and ultraprecise nanotechnology to breakthrough applications for nanoelectronics, many of them backed by important new patents," said Stuke.

"Computers of tomorrow could be quite different from what they are today," said Williams. "When you can make a computing appliance so tiny that it could fit across the width of a hair, you could enable many, many different things to become 'smart.' Computing could become as ubiquitous as electricity - it's just there, making things work. The possibilities are limited only by human imagination."

The crossbar architecture is potentially easier and less expensive to manufacture than conventional silicon technology, because it doesn't require the same level of mechanical precision and is well-suited to tolerate the inevitable defects that are bound to occur in the fabrication process at such tiny dimensions.

"At the nano level, quantum mechanics takes over from classical physics - electrons behave more like waves than particles. We are studying how we can use quantum properties to enable new functions in a circuit," he said. Theoretical physicists working in QSR have contributed articles on quantum effects to the special edition.

Finally, the HP group is examining how future devices could be made - practically and economically - at the nanoscale. "There's a great tradition of technology transfer at HP," said Williams. "We work only on those things that we believe could ultimately be important to HP's bottom line in the future."

To that end, QSR researchers are examining the properties of various metals for wires and materials for switches that could be used in fabrication at the nano level. They are also proposing ways in which the tiny devices could be linked to conventional microelectronics.