The high performance digital microelectronic component is designed to do one thing — that is to faithfully execute its instruction set architecture. The resulting hardware embodiment, however, forces structure into materials that resist order. These structures immediately begin reverting to their lowest energy state and highest disorder. Semiconductor wear-out and aging are evidence of this entropy. Countering these effects is expensive, and contributes nothing to transaction throughput or energy efficiency. Against this backdrop, selected emerging concepts in device physics, process, design, architecture, reliability and hardware security may collectively embrace entropy, and use asymmetry in our favor. This talk will provide an overview of concepts that connect low level device physics to high level architecture in a way that leverages asymmetry in our favor. Given that current devices are confronting not just atomistic but now quantum-mechanical limitations to scaling, the need is greater than ever.
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