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  • Review Article
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Nanoelectronics from the bottom up

Nature Materials volume 6, pages 841–850 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Electronics obtained through the bottom-up approach of molecular-level control of material composition and structure may lead to devices and fabrication strategies not possible with top-down methods. This review presents a brief summary of bottom-up and hybrid bottom-up/top-down strategies for nanoelectronics with an emphasis on memories based on the crossbar motif. First, we will discuss representative electromechanical and resistance-change memory devices based on carbon nanotube and core–shell nanowire structures, respectively. These device structures show robust switching, promising performance metrics and the potential for terabit-scale density. Second, we will review architectures being developed for circuit-level integration, hybrid crossbar/CMOS circuits and array-based systems, including experimental demonstrations of key concepts such lithography-independent, chemically coded stochastic demultipluxers. Finally, bottom-up fabrication approaches, including the opportunity for assembly of three-dimensional, vertically integrated multifunctional circuits, will be critically discussed.

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Figure 1: Crossbar memory switches.
Figure 2: Electromechanical crossbar memory based on carbon nanotubes.

© 2000 AAAS

Figure 3: Hysteretic-resistor memories based on core–shell nanowires.
Figure 4: Nanowire and nanotube-based transistor logic.

© 2006 ACS

Figure 5: Mixed-scale crossbar demuxes.

© 2005 AAAS

Figure 6: Hybrid crossbar circuits.
Figure 7: Assembly and integration.

© 2007 ACS

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Acknowledgements

We thank many of our colleagues at the University of Michigan and Harvard University, particularly T. Rueckes, Y. Dong, G. Yu, Y. Chen, Z. Zhong, X. Duan, Y. Huang and S. Y. Jo for assistance, and A. DeHon and P. Lincoln for critical discussions. W.L. acknowledges support by the National Science Foundation (CCF-0621823). C.M.L. acknowledges support by Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Intel, and Samsung Electronics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 48109, Michigan, USA

    Wei Lu

  2. Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, 02138, Massachusetts, USA

    Charles M. Lieber

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Lu, W., Lieber, C. Nanoelectronics from the bottom up. Nature Mater 6, 841–850 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat2028

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