What New Device Will Replace the Transistor

The transistor is the great success story of 20th century technology. Nonetheless, the device is 65 years old, and it cannot be expected to continue to serve the needs of civilization forever. The transistor is a relatively insensitive switch, demanding an operating voltage close to 1Volt for On/Off switching.

In principle, a more sensitive switch could be powered by a few milliVolts, leading to a power saving of voltage squared. This could reduce power consumption by five orders of magnitude, or more. This is likely to be translated into a corresponding improvement in IT functionality for both the infrastructure core, as well as for wireless systems. Prof. Yablonovitch will review the world-wide efforts to replace the transistor with a more sensitive switch.

Speaker: Eli Yablonovitch, Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, UC Berkeley

Room 306