However, if it is to become a practical design option, nanometer-scale devices of this type must be fabricated and tested. Efforts in this direction are underway, led by Professor Gary Bernstein of the Microelectronics Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame . This would permit very large mass storage for computer information systems with fast access and no moving mechanical parts. An example application might be the storage of full-length motion pictures on a such chip. Mechanical assembly of nanoscopic structures and devices with macroscopic probes is awkward and fraught with difficulties.
Some authorities say that it is doomed to failure because of entropic considerations.
That would be a giant step forward. Ultimately, if nanoelectronics is to become practical and economically viable , it will demand that nanometer-scale structures be fabricated rapidly by the billions and billions. Some preliminary experiments in that direction are being conducted, notably by Professor Noel MacDonald of Cornell University and by Professor Calvin Quate of Stanford University. Return to top of the List of the Top 10 Hard Problems in Nanoelectronics Virtual environment linked to live STM that can move individual atoms. Still, the proximal probe instruments to which it is linked are relatively primitive.