The high life of technology with David Ferry

By Jade Holt on November 20, 2015 • ( 1 )

Today, the majority of us live in a technologically driven society. Mobile phones, the internet, the computer I’m using to write this blog post, just to name a few. The development of technology has moved at a quickening pace over the past few decades. This in part has been down to the achievements made in the field of nanoelectronics.

In his new ebook, ‘Transport in Semiconducting Mesoscopic Devices‘, David Ferry introduces the physics of transport in such nanoscale systems, which are responsible for transforming modern day electronics. While there are many books that cover similar topics, this ebook is specifically written as a text book for first year graduates so truly serves as an introduction into this interdisciplinary area.

Ferry has strong links to IOP Publishing and the JPhys series having served as Editor in Chief on JPCM. He is also the first author to have published two ebooks with us (his first ‘Semiconductors‘ was published in 2013).

Developed while at the 2014 APS March meeting in Denver, his new ebook goes beyond just words on a page and incorporates videos as well. This multimedia functionality, achieveable for all IOP ebooks, is what Ferry sees as “the future of publishing”. He told us:

A picture is worth a thousand words. A video is worth several hundred pictures. Nothing can portray the application of the physics better than a video on evolving technology.

As this evolving technology continues to miniaturise, this area of research will only become more important.

Studying small structures at low temperatures allows one to probe the detailed physics of the device and the process by which conduction occurs.

What the future holds for nanoelectronics and which limitations it may enable us to overcome is unknown. If we knew where the physics and technology would take us next, we’d all be rich.

What is known is that ‘Transport in Semiconducting Mesoscopic Devices‘ is leading the way in offering students the opportunity to not only learn from a leader in the field, but the chance to interact with multimedia elements which provide a unique insight into this nanoscale world of circuitry.

Find out more about our ebooks programme here.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Video: Jesper Nygård on nanotechnology, artificial atoms, and the future of computing. (Video hosted by Professor Jesper Nygård, Neils Bohr Institute, and produced by the Compound for Neils Bohr Institute, included here with their permission.)