Apr 27 2007
The IEEE has completed its Nanoelectronics Standards Roadmap(NESR), which establishes a framework for creating standards to help industry transition electronic applications based on nanotechnology from the laboratory to commercial use. The nanotech community can review and comment on the document, which is posted at http://standards.ieee.org/announcements/nano/07/Nano07.html, either by e-mail or at a “town-hall”-style meeting on 22 May at the NSTI Nanotech 2007 Conference in Santa Clara, Calif.
The IEEE Nanoelectronic Standards Roadmapping Initiative, which began in early 2003, is co-chaired by Evelyn Hirt of Battelle and John Tucker of Keithley Instruments. Its members come from industry, government and academia and from many nations. The roadmap focuses on standards for nanomaterials and devices that promise to yield the highest value in the near-term. It also anticipates standards likely to be needed at higher levels of integration for functional blocks and applications.
In 2007, the roadmap recommends the initiation of five nanoelectronic standards: three for nanomaterials involving conductive interconnects, organic sensor structures and nano-dispersions and two for nano-devices involving nanoscale sensors and nanoscale emitting devices. It also targets the start of seven nanomaterial standards and five nano-device standards in 2008.
“The many individuals who worked on the roadmap have created a rational path for managing the development of nanoelectronic standards,” says Edward Rashba, Director, New Business Ventures. “Their vision will help industry realize the potential for nano-enabled electronic products in such fields as communications, information technology, biotechnology and optoelectronics.
“The standards identified in the roadmap are intended to foster industry's growth by enabling researchers to build on each other’s findings, harmonize best practices, and support manufacturers across the value chain from materials, processing and test equipment to subsystems and systems.”