Silicon VLSI trends - what else besides scaling CMOS to its limit?

Abstract

Silicon CMOS is fast reaching its scaling limits. Nonetheless, silicon CMOS will remain the backbone technology for all digital designs. While attempts to extend the limits of CMOS will continue, there will also be increasing focus on other silicon technologies that can contribute significantly to system performance. Large amounts of high-performance on-chip memory are needed to minimize the performance penalty caused by the finite size of the cache memory. Large amounts of low-power NVRAM are needed for data storage in systems where magnetic disk storage is not available. High-performance and low-power mixed-signal technology is needed for wireless systems. Also, a truly non-volatile RAM could be a game changer to system designers.