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Science 11 October 1985:
Vol. 230. no. 4722, pp. 138 - 144
DOI: 10.1126/science.230.4722.138
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Articles

What Makes a Good Computer Device?

Robert W. Keyes 1

1 Research staff member at IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Box 218, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598.

Numerous development projects aimed at replacing the silicon technology that dominates computer logic with a faster alternative have been conducted throughout the past 25 years. None has succeeded. The alternatives are usually based on a device that switches very rapidly, and they neglect many other requirements of computer logic. In this article the essential physical factors that account for the success of transistors in digital applications are identified, as are the factors that are absent in proposed alternative devices.

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)