The End of the Semiconductor Roadmap: The Collision of Physics, Economics, and Sociology

Dean's Distinguished Lecturer Event

Featuring Dr. Eli Yablonovitch
The Northrop Grumman Opto-Electronics Chair
Professor of Electrical Engineering
University of California, Los Angeles

Location:
McDonnell Douglas Auditorium
UC Irvine Campus

Reception to follow.  Complimentary parking located in the engineering parking structure at the intersection of East Peltason and

Directions:
http://www.eng.uci.edu/visiting

This event is free to the public, however an RSVP is required.  Please email engineerRSVP@uci.edu or call 949.824.3923

Abstract:
The headlong exponential growth of information technology enabled by Moore's Law -- an observation made in 1965 by Intel’s co-founder, Gordon Moore, that predicts the number of transistors built in computer chips will double approximately every two years --will soon reach a crisis stage.  However, society is increasingly dependent on a vigorous information technology industry, which currently represents a significant portion of the world's intellectual effort.  Join Dr. Eli Yablonovitch, The Northrop Grumman Opto-Electronics Chair, and professor of electrical engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles, as he discusses the growth of the industry, and how there has been a delicate equilibrium between decreasing prices, balanced by exponentially growing unit volumes.  Will the end of Moore's Law mean stagnation, leading to dropping prices, and a net shrinkage of the overall effort dedicated to information technology?  The answer depends upon physics, economics, and sociology, and also relies on the faith of ever-expanding human ingenuity. 

About the Speaker:
Dr. Eli Yablonovitch, a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Sciences, graduated with the Ph.D. degree in applied physics from Harvard University in 1972.  In 1992 he joined the University of California, Los Angeles, where he is now The Northrop Grumman Opto-Electronics Chair, professor of electrical engineering.

Dr. Yablonovitch is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, the Optical Society of America, and the American Physical Society. He is a Life Member of Eta Kappa Nu, and been awarded the Adolf Lomb Medal, the W. Streifer Scientific Achievement Award, the R.W. Wood Prize, and the Julius Springer Prize.

His work has covered a broad variety of topics including: nonlinear optics, laser-plasma interaction, infrared laser chemistry, photovoltaic energy conversion, strained-quantum-well lasers, and chemical modification of semiconductor surfaces. Currently his main interests are in optoelectronics, high speed optical communications, high efficiency light-emitting diodes and nano-cavity lasers, photonic crystals at optical and microwave frequencies, quantum computing and quantum communication.