Moore's law: the future of Si microelectronics

Soon after Bardeen, Brattain, and Shockley invented a solid-state device in 19471 to replace electron vacuum tubes, the microelectronics industry and a revolution started. Since its birth, the industry has experienced four decades of unprecedented explosive growth driven by two factors: Noyce and Kilby inventing the planar integrated circuit2, 3 and the advantageous characteristics that result from scaling (shrinking) solid-state devices.