50 Years in the Semiconductor Underground PDF
Preview 50 Years in the Semiconductor Underground
50 Years David K. Ferry in the Semiconductor Underground The author (left), when he was much younger, prepares to join a colleague in the underground salt mines near Salzburg. 50 Years in the Semiconductor Underground David K. Ferry CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group 6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300 Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742 © 2015 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business No claim to original U.S. Government works Version Date: 20150513 International Standard Book Number-13: 978-981-4613-35-4 (eBook - PDF) This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reason- able efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences of their use. The authors and publishers have attempted to trace the copyright holders of all material reproduced in this publication and apologize to copyright holders if permission to publish in this form has not been obtained. If any copyright material has not been acknowledged please write and let us know so we may rectify in any future reprint. Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Law, no part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publishers. For permission to photocopy or use material electronically from this work, please access www. copyright.com (http://www.copyright.com/) or contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400. CCC is a not-for-profit organiza- tion that provides licenses and registration for a variety of users. For organizations that have been granted a photocopy license by the CCC, a separate system of payment has been arranged. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at http://www.taylorandfrancis.com and the CRC Press Web site at http://www.crcpress.com Contents Preface ix 1 In the Beginning 1 Why Semiconductors 2 The Underground 6 The Joy of Semiconductors 11 My Life and Times 13 2 Threads of Science 15 My Thread 19 Of Lines and Dots 24 Unintended Consequences 33 Different Threads 38 3 Rise of the Chip 43 Moore’s Law 44 Death of a Research Track 46 Scaling Theory 48 End of the Mainframe 50 More Than Moore 54 vi Contents 4 Challenging Physics 57 A Thread That Should Die 58 Weird Philosophies 63 5 Some Views of Science 71 Pathological Science 71 Following the Leader 76 What Goes Around Comes Around 82 The Sky Is Falling 86 6 Science and Life May Be Fickle 89 Asking the Question in Context 90 The Gospel of the Laboratory 92 The Danger of Theorists 97 A Little Knowledge Is a Dangerous Thing 100 7 The Light Side of Science 107 The First ASI 107 Just Deserts 111 San Miniato 112 The Duel 115 The Chateau 117 The Challenge 120 Fame Comes in Strange Packages 121 The Proper Response 123 8 Arrogance and Ignorance 127 Sometimes the Theories Are Wrong 128 Contents vii Early Quantum Mechanics 133 Quantum Jumps 138 Quantum Computing 142 Life as a Heretic 145 9 How Big Is an Electron 149 Focusing In on the Size 150 Why Is It Still Classical 153 About the Author 157 Index 159
The list of books you might like
