Overviewof Semiconductor Device Trends:The dawn of the third millennium coincides with what has often been referred
to as the information age. The rapid exchange of information in its various
formats has become one of the most important activities of our modern world.
Shannon’s early recognition that information in its most basic form can be
reduced to a series of bits has lead to a vast infrastructure devoted to the
rapid and efficient transfer of information in bit form. The technical developments
that underlie this infrastructure result from a blending of computing
and telecommunications. Basic to these industries is semiconductor hardware,
which provides the essential tools for information processing, transfer, and display.