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coupled to nearby information in a way that is minimally dissipative. The answer
is: just with a field. There's kind of two fields we can use, the electric and mag-
netic fields. We're unlikely to do it with the weak force, or the gravitational
force. That would be engineering on too small a scale, or much too large a scale.
Wo lkow:
You should predict it now then be famous three years from now.
[Laughter.]
Lent:
We've really got those two choices, and we have the luxury of being
able to pursue it several different ways at different length scales. The argu-
ment is that, in the long term, if matter is going to be patterned in a manner
that is electronically useful, it very likely has to be something very much like
this at the single atom or the molecular scale. Its clear that we're not going to
get there quickly, but there will be a lot of technologies along the way and a lot
of prototypes. I hope Wolfgang's exactly right that lower hanging fruit in the
shorter term will keep us on the path.
Anderson:
Are there questions, comments, suggestions or other impressions
about the big challenges?
Karim
(Faizal): Getting research support can be very dicult for something
like QCA. I'm wondering what you think are the biggest challenges or hurdles
that we have to overcome to continue doing research in QCA. What makes it so
hard to get funding sometimes? Is it that people are still hanging on to CMOS,
and they're just not receptive to new things? Is it that there are a bunch of bad
publications out there, and that people read them and think that all of this is
garbage? Or are there other things? What do you think?
Lent:
Well, I think there are number of things, one of which is just that it is
long term research. Up until fairly recently, industry's interest was not so great
because there was an enormous amount of faith that the roadmap would just
continue. My sense of things is that has changed - even in the last three years
- and that there is now a lot more interest because there is a lot more panic
about reaching the end of the roadmap (for financial reasons if not for technical
reasons with CMOS scaling limits). That has changed late in the game, but it
really is changing.
It will also be helpful to have more proof of concept deliverables, things
that you can see working. Magnetic devices working. I frankly don't know why
the metal dot devices do not have more credibility; fairly sophisticated things
have been made that way. And the results Bob showed with these atomic scaled
devices. Seeing those things working, I think, will help a lot in terms of sustaining
the interest in the field.
Finally, it has to be said, there's kind of a human phenomenon. There was
a time when all of this was brand new. No one had ever heard of it. That, you
know, not the case anymore. The field is in it's awkward adolescence. [Laughter]
Wo lkow:
I would echo the point about the human phenomenon. Sometimes
society goes down blind alleys, and everyone follows. You can see that through
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