  Nanoscale semiconductor technology has been a key enabler of the computing
revolution. It has done so via advances in new materials and manufacturing
processes that resulted in the size of the basic building block of computing
systems - the logic switch and memory devices - being reduced into the
nanoscale regime. Nanotechnology has provided increased computing functionality
per unit volume, energy, and cost. In order for computing systems to continue
to deliver substantial benefits for the foreseeable future to society at large,
it is critical that the very notion of computing be examined in the light of
nanoscale realities. In particular, one needs to ask what it means to compute
when the very building block - the logic switch - no longer exhibits the level
of determinism required by the von Neumann architecture. There needs to be a
sustained and heavy investment in a nation-wide Vertically Integrated
Semiconductor Ecosystem (VISE). VISE is a program in which research and
development is conducted seamlessly across the entire compute stack - from
applications, systems and algorithms, architectures, circuits and nanodevices,
and materials. A nation-wide VISE provides clear strategic advantages in
ensuring the US's global superiority in semiconductors. First, a VISE provides
the highest quality seed-corn for nurturing transformative ideas that are
critically needed today in order for nanotechnology-inspired computing to
flourish. It does so by dramatically opening up new areas of semiconductor
research that are inspired and driven by new application needs. Second, a VISE
creates a very high barrier to entry from foreign competitors because it is
extremely hard to establish, and even harder to duplicate.
