Nanotech goes infotech

So much changes so fast in the IT industry, but one thing never wavers: electronic components get continually smaller and more powerful, and are built to use less energy than their predecessors. Whispers of silicon approaching the peak of its abilities as the semiconducting material of choice for use in cPus, Ram, storage and communication chips may be premature; but researchers the world over are nevertheless busy exploring how nanotechnology and new materials - atomic or molecular scale structures ranging from 1 to 100nm in scale ?? can provide the next generation of shrinkage required.