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25th Anniversary of IEEE International Conference on
Nanotechnology (IEEE-NANO)

Shanshan Liu, Kremena Makasheva, Xiaoning Jiang

► To cite this version:

Shanshan Liu, Kremena Makasheva, Xiaoning Jiang. 25th Anniversary of IEEE International Conference on Nanotechnology (IEEE-NANO). IEEE Nanotechnology Magazine, 2025, 19 (4), pp.4-5.
10.1109/MNANO.2025.3570920. hal-05349600

HAL Id: hal-05349600

https://hal.science/hal-05349600v1

Submitted on 5 Nov 2025

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Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
25th Anniversary of IEEE International
Conference on Nanotechnology (IEEE-NANO)

Shanshan Liu,<fnref n="1" /> Kremena Makasheva,<fnref n="2" /> and Xiaoning Jiang<fnref n="3" />

Since its founding in 2001, IEEE International Conference on Nanotechnology (IEEE-NANO) has been the flagship conference of the IEEE Nanotechnology Council (NTC). Its sustained support and promotion of advanced research in nanotechnology is unsurpassed in the technical community. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of IEEE-NANO, we are very honored to organize this special issue with four distinguished papers reflecting key advances in nanotechnology in different fields over the past two and a half decades.

Starting from the field of nanoscale structures, the first paper is about skyrmion, a potential breakthrough for nanotechnology. The paper titled “Skyrmions in Nanotechnology: Fundamental Properties, Experimental Advances, and Emerging Applications” is contributed by G. Finocchio (who was the Program Chair of IEEE-NANO 2024), et al. In this paper, the state-of-the-art research on skyrmions across different platforms (such as magnetic systems, ferroelectric systems, photonic systems, acoustic systems, liquid crystals, and other physical systems) is comprehensively reviewed by highlighting their fundamental properties and recent experimental breakthroughs. Moreover, due to their long lifetime, low-power excitation modes, high mobility, and other benefits, the technological potentials, perspectives and challenges of skyrmions in a wide range of applications (such as ultra-sensitive nanoscale sensors, high-density memories, neuromorphic/probabilistic computing, and next-generation nanoactuators) are further discussed.

The second paper moves to the field of nanotechnology materials by reviewing the advancements in Carbon nanotube (CNT) and its importance in field emission (FE) applications. The paper is titled “Field Emission X-Ray Devices” and authored by J. Yeow (who was the General Chair of IEEE-NANO 2014), et al. Starting from 30 years ago, CNTs have been a focus in FE research and have emerged as a highly promising material for FE cathodes due to their remarkable properties in terms of stability, emission uniformity, and longevity. The paper starts with discussing the fundamental principles of X-ray generation with FE-based structures; then, it outlines recent advances (device design, fabrication techniques, performance optimization, etc.) in CNT-based FE arrays and details their integration into X-ray tubes and applications in imaging systems and medical diagnostics. Furthermore, the paper also addresses the challenges of scaling CNT emitters for commercial applications and their potential role in the next generation of X-ray technologies.

Next, the third paper titled “2D-SPARK: A Variation-aware Circuit Design Methodology for 2D Semiconductor VLSI” provides a framework to develop circuit design for two-dimensional (2D) nanotechnology materials. Some high performance 2D semiconductors such as transition metal dichalcogenides are promising materials for next-generation very-large-scale-integration (VLSI) circuits. However, the relevant circuit design methodology is still in its infancy and faces challenges in terms of variations associated with material defects and non-standard processes.

In this paper, the so-called 2D-SPARK framework is proposed to advance 2D semiconductors from devices to large-scale circuits; it comprehensively includes the design infrastructure establishment, physical mapping, variation tolerance optimization, and design verification. The paper is contributed by X. Wang, et al; he is also a constant supporter to IEEE-NANO, starting attending the conference as a Ph.D. student and will be the General Co-Chair of the 26th IEEE-NANO edition.

The last paper of this special issue is from a system-level perspective with a focus on advanced nanoscale computing systems. It is titled “Approximate and Stochastic Ising Machines” and authored by J. Han (who contributed to one of the most cited papers in the past 25 IEEE-NANO proceedings), et al. With the rapid advancement of nanotechnology, the growing demands for data-intensive and energy-efficient computing keeps pushing the limitations of conventional von Neumann architectures. As a promising solution, unconventional computing paradigms such as approximate and stochastic computing, have been applied to various computing-intensive systems to achieve hardware saving. This paper discusses the role of approximate and stochastic computing in the design of digital Ising machines, which is widely used in searching for (sub)-optimal solutions of combinatorial optimization problems. Taking this case study, the paper provides systematic insights on integrating strategies across various design levels for improving the overall efficiency of unconventional computing paradigms.

<footnote n="1">¹ University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China</footnote>

<footnote n="2">² LAPLACE, CNRS, University of Toulouse, Toulouse, France</footnote>

<footnote n="3">³ North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC, USA</footnote>
We believe the in-depth investigations and innovative insights provided in these papers will promote new inspiration to the nanotechnology community peeking into the future of IEEE-NANO. Finally, we would like to thank all the authors, reviewers, readers and the Editor-in-Chief Professor Bing Sheu and Associate EIC Professor Shao-Ku Kao for their invaluable support to this special issue, as well as all people contributed to the first 25 memorable years of IEEE-NANO. We are now focused on the future 25 years of this high level conference. We look forward to partnering with you to embrace the next glorious era of nanotechnology.