Bridging dimensions: demultiplexing ultrahigh-density nanowire circuits

A demultiplexer is an electronic circuit designed to separate two or more combined signals. We report on a demultiplexer architecture for bridging from the submicrometer dimensions of lithographic patterning to the nanometer-scale dimensions that can be achieved through nanofabrication methods for the selective addressing of ultrahigh-density nanowire circuits. Order log2(N) large wires are required to address N nanowires, and the demultiplexer architecture is tolerant of low-precision manufacturing. This concept is experimentally demonstrated on submicrometer wires and on an array of 150 silicon nanowires patterned at nanowire widths of 13 nanometers and a pitch of 34 nanometers.