Free registration required to read the story. John Markoff of The New York Times writes:

Nanotechnology is officially on the road map.

A handful of futuristic chip-making technologies at the atomic scale have been added to an industry planning effort that charts the future of the semiconductor manufacturing industry every two years.

The transition to a post-silicon era is forecast in a report called the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors, to be issued Saturday. The report, which is produced cooperatively by semiconductor industry associations from Europe, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and the United States, is used by the semiconductor industry as a planning tool to determine how best to spend research and development money for new technology.

[Continue reading Chip Industry Sets a Plan for Life After Silicon]

[tags]silicon,semiconductor,manufacturing,chip,international technology roadmap for semiconductors,emerging research devices,nanotechnology[/tags]