Silicon trough

Silicon, and more specifically its use in semiconductors, has come a long way since Intel released the 1103 DRAM semiconductor memory chip in 1970. Advances in miniaturisation since then have led to the creation of smaller and more powerful electronic devices that are integral to everyday life.

Today's mobile phones, with video and audio capture, have little resemblance to the brick-like models of 20 years ago. Similarly, an EI Systems E101 home PC with 256MB of RAM is as removed from the 32K Acorn Electron PC as possible. And behind all this progress lies silicon, the second most common element on Earth after oxygen.

But though silicon is ubiquitous and certain to remain the dominant material driving electronics developments for the next 20-30 years, its future is not so clear-cut. Silicon Futures, a network of the 12 leading UK universities in silicon research, is accusing the UK government of appearing to be more concerned with largely unproven applications in nanotechnology without realising that silicon is part of this burgeoning field. According to Silicon Futures, the Office of Science and Technology sees silicon as a mature technology that is past its sell-by date and does not require any further substantial investment.