IS THERE ANY FUTURE FOR VLSI?

 Is there any future for VLSI? this question seems very easy but indeed tricky to answer. As the industry has started slowing down. This is because of the physical limits of silicon technology. Researchers have not yet found a material that can replace silicon or have not yet perfected Quantum computing but Day by day the need for high bandwidth and information is increasing. The other important characteristic is that the information service tends to become more personalized, which means that the information processing device must be more intelligent and also be portable to allow more mobility. Hence the need for VLSI is increasing day by day. VLSI can be used in many areas like Telecommunication, computing devices, image processing, and hence it has a very wider scope in future

With the advances being made in technologies like process geometries, feature, and product innovations on a daily basis, there is a constant need to design, develop, and re-engineer integrated circuits (ICs). Since products like mobile phones are being released with new features in increasingly shorter cycles, there is a healthy demand for qualified very large scale integration (VLSI) engineers to work on these products. Therefore there is good scope for future and career in the VLSI industry.

But still Many people believe that the industry is slowing down because of the physical limitations of silicon technology. But it will be an exaggeration to say that the industry will die or collapse. Because VLSI is the foundation of all industries. If VLSI collapses the rest of the industry will eventually collapse due to the mere dependence on computers!  So, the industry has to stay. Innovations and creativity required to work in this industry would increase. 

Also, there is another catch in the current scenario of the VLSI Industry, i.e no new semiconductor companies being funded?

There are new semiconductor companies being formed. However, there are no new semiconductor companies being funded by venture capital firms. Well, the number is practically zero.

As of today, the semiconductor industry stands over MOSFETs. As long as MOSFETs are shrinking VLSI industry will fly high in the market. If we go in history, we will see that the semiconductor industry has seen this situation in past. Till the 1940s systems were designed using Vacuum tubes. To get an idea about the integration of vacuum tubes one of the famous machines ENIACdesigned with 20K vacuum tubes with a large area.  This limitation led to the invention of the transistor. In the same way, In around 5 years' time, we will see ourselves standing at the same point where we were with vacuum tubes in the 1950s. This time limitation would be power consumption (leakage current) and area. And it will lead to the invention of another device. We are already exploring multiple devices such as FinFETs, SOI, etc.

Apart from the device-level, we will see advancements on the design side as well. New architectures will be proposed with improved vulnerability threads.

A semiconductor is a base for all the upcoming technological advancements. All the upcoming technologies, eg, AI, Machine learning, Blockchain, and all, need a platform to run. So there is a bright future for VLSI with a lot of advancements. We may see the end of Moore's law for MOSFETs, but It is certain that in some time new devices will replace them and we will continue to evolve.