From transistor to nanotube

We present here the main steps in the evolution of the transistor, since the tremendous invention of such a device and the introduction of the integrated circuit. We will then recall the main steps of Moore's law development. Nanotechnology began at the very beginning of the 21st century. Two aspects are presented in this article: the first, called ‘More Moore’, consists in continuing the laws of scale up to the physical limits; the second aspect, called ‘beyond CMOS’ explores new concepts such as spintronics, moletronics, nanotronics and other types of molecular electronics. To cite this article: J.-C. Boudenot, C. R. Physique 9 (2008).