  Modern semiconductors innovation has a strong relation to scale and skill.
While India has a significant demand for semiconductors, it has a daunting
challenge to create a semiconductor ecosystem. Yet, India has quietly come a
long way. Starting with Centers of Excellence in Nanoelectronics (CENs)
initiated in 2006 and broad science and technology funding, India has
transformed its nanoelectronics research ecosystem. From negligible
contributions as late as 2011, India has risen to be a top contributor to IEEE
Electron Devices journals today. Our study presents important observations in
terms of ecosystem development. First, there is a 6 year incubation time from
infrastructure initiation to first papers. Then, 4 more years to become
globally competitive. Second, growth in experimental research is essential
along with modeling & simulations. Finally, the aspirational goals of
translational research to contribute to the global technology roadmap requires
cutting-edge manufacturing infrastructure & ecosystem access, which still needs
development. The learning informs a call to action for the research ecosystem
i.e. academia, industry, and policy-makers. First, sustain and amplify
successful strategies of national research infrastructure & funding growth.
Second, enhance international collaborations to add further scale &
infrastructure to R&D. Finally, strengthen the industry-academia-policy
consortium approach to transform to an innovation-based economy. Ultimately,
the electron devices community is entering an exciting phase where Beyond Moore
offers open opportunities in materials, devices to systems, and algorithms.
India must build on its success to play a significant role in this new world of
disruptive innovation.
