Women Chemists Committee Lunch

Breakthroughs in Materials Chemistry for Advanced Technologies:
A Collaborative Endeavor

Elsa Reichmanis
Director, Materials Research
Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies
600 Mountain Avenue
Murray Hill, NJ 07974

The microelectronics era began a little over 50 years ago with the invention of the point contact transistor at Bell Labs. Who would have thought that that small object, perhaps 4-6 cm in size would lead the way to the development of a huge, multi-billion dollar electronics industry that impacts every aspect of our lives today. This so-to-speak “second industrial revolution” has depended upon advances in almost every field of science and engineering. But it is materials chemistry that has provided the foundation for fabrication processes that allow for circuit elements that are 1000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair. And perhaps somewhat parochially, materials chemistry provides the foundation for all the breakthroughs that enable many of our technology advances. The implementation of these concepts and inventions into innovative technologies can be facilitated, but requires an integrated and diverse multidisciplinary team approach to ensure success.