The Future Of The Electronics Industry And The Potential Of Molecular Electronics

This article analyses the most important technological, economic and environmental limits of the integrated circuit production chain, and the principal innovations in the field of nanotechnology. Current growth in the calculation power of computers can be maintained only through continuous technological innovation. The manufacturing costs and environmental burden of the integrated circuit process are therefore increasing fast. Attempts to find cheaper and more environmentally friendly alternatives for manufacturing electronic devices have motivated researchers to investigate the area of organic molecules. Finally it is supposed that the biotechnologies could replace silicon technology and that new electronic devices could interact in a tighter way with the physical and biological world. This analysis is based on long wave economic patterns, and it is assumed that the biotechnology innovations in the electronics industry will be the technological innovation capable of supporting future economic development.