Chip group launches nano initiative

The Semiconductor Industry Association, a trade group for the chip industry, has launched a nanotechnology initiative geared at identifying needed areas of research and breakthroughs at universities and matching those with federal funding. "The initial effort is to find out what is going on, and find the appropriate federal agency (to assist)," said John Greenagle, an SIA spokesperson. The federal government is currently spending about $1 billion a year on nanotech research.

Moore's Law, the driving force behind the electronics industry, is expected to end around 2021 because of the laws of physics. Making chips, partly or wholly, out of designer molecules is expected to fuel computer progress in the coming decades.