Carbon Nanotube Electronics

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been demonstrated to have remarkable physical, electrical and thermal properties and are likely to find numerous applications. Within the electronics sphere, CNTs promise high-capacity non-volatile computer memories, television displays with better performance than anything now on the market, a solution for high-speed chip interconnection, ultra-fast processors and logic, low-cost highly responsive sensors, and even new kinds of packaging and thermal management products.

This report examines this promise from a market perspective and answers the following questions:

• Where are the near term opportunities for carbon nanotubes electronics? Are the firms promising field emission displays and nanotube memory by 2006 being too optimistic or are there real opportunities in these areas?
• What are the other emerging technologies that will compete with CNT electronics and how well will CNTs meet such challenges? For example, how will CNT memories shape up against other non-volatile nanomemories, nanotube interconnects against silicon photonics, and CNT-based processors against processors built with III-V materials?
• How well will CNT electronics fit in a CMOS world? What is required of CNT electronics in terms of materials and process compatibility with CMOS and how will those requirements change over time?
• Which large semiconductor firms are making the development of CNT-based electronics a priority? How far have they come with their R&D and what challenges do they face? Are there any entrepreneurial opportunities in this space and where should venture capitalists be placing their money in this space?

This report answers all these questions and more. It also reviews the state of the art in carbon nanotube electronics and provides detailed forecasts of revenue generation in this sector broken out by type of product (processors/logic, memory, interconnects, displays, sensors, and thermal management products.) Each of these forecasts is then further broken out by end user segment (e.g. cell phones and handhelds, military, enterprise computing, etc.) Also provided are profiles of 12 firms that are commercializing carbon nanotubes electronics along with an analysis of how these efforts fit in with their general strategies.

This report is intended for business development and marketing executives, product managers and other planners in the semiconductor, electronics and advanced materials sectors. It will also of considerable interest to venture capitalists, investment bankers and other investors.