Volume: 122

An extension of fluctuation–dissipation theorem is used to derive a “speed limit” theorem for nonlinear electronic devices. This speed limit provides a lower bound on the dissipation that is incurred when transferring a given amount of electric charge in a certain amount of time with a certain noise level (average variance of the current). This bound, which implies a high energy dissipation for fast, low-noise operations (such as switching a bit in a digital memory), brings together recent results of stochastic thermodynamics into a form that is usable for practical nonlinear electronic circuits, as we illustrate on a switching circuit made of an nMOS pass gate in a state-of-the-art industrial technology.