5. Conclusion

Through a few selected examples, we show that the development of microelectronics from its beginnings to the present day has constantly relied on the introduction of new materials and the use of metallurgical concepts (diffusion, phase transformations, plasticity, etc.). The nanometric size of the devices manufactured at the beginning of the 21st century makes it more necessary than ever to use metallurgical skills, but it also raises a number of very fundamental questions, which require a modification, or at least an adaptation, of the concepts: size effects on characteristic quantities, influence of interfaces, plastic deformation in the presence of few defects, stochastic effects... So today's nanoelectronics is a magnificent field of study and application for metallurgists!