The World in 2030

62 The World in 2030
would be required for development to continue at its present
pace (using Josephson Junctions 120 ) and many were suggesting
that the chip substrate silicon would have to be replaced with
more exotic materials such as gallium arsenate. 121
Today chip designers are contemplating the move to
nano-scale design, new substrates (including plastics) and
even quantum-level computing. According to the academic
journal Nature, one new substrate with promise for future
processor designs is graphene:
The latest contender to succeed silicon’s throne is
graphene. It has been used to make a truly tiny transistor
that works at room temperature, offering hope
for making faster, smaller electronics devices once
silicon reaches its limits (around 2020).
Graphene is a two-dimensional form of carbon, discovered
just three years ago. It is very thin — just one
atom thick — and highly conductive with minimal
resistance, which has sent physicists and materials
scientists into a frenzy to find applications that exploit
these properties. 122
Polymers (plastics) also play a role in allowing chip developers
to design and fabricate at nano-scale. In May 2007 Hewlett-
Packard made an important announcement:
Hewlett-Packard and Nanolithosolutions say they
have a machine that will let semiconductor manufacturers
produce chips sporting wires measuring a few
atoms wide.