Is there any indication that it’s possible to build subatomic size transistors? Last I checked the data, transistors are already only a few atoms in size (silicon and carbon atoms are somewhere in the 0.3nm range), and it was a widely held opinion that it would stop at that if not much sooner. That would keep Moore’s law alive for a bit longer at best but the end does seem in sight.
Even considering all of that the economics seem to have already stagnated in cost for performance.[1]
Bear in mind, when silicon foundries say they have an Xnm process, nothing in that process is actually Xnm. TSMCs 2nm process does not make transistors 2nm wide[1]. They are in fact, approximately 40-50nm wide. The process number is a marketing number, and what changes each generation is actually transistor geometry (here you'll see terms like FinFET and GAA transistor and such, plus some process improvements that cause "half" generations)
But yeah, the fact that latest process nodes actually increase in cost is why people say "Moore's law is dead". Performance improves, but to keep the trendline roughly exponential, many things have had to give since the late 2000s. Such as: cost per wafer, power usage for max performance etc.
Even considering all of that the economics seem to have already stagnated in cost for performance.[1]
[1] http://databasearchitects.blogspot.com/2023/04/the-great-cpu...