New design for a basic component of all computer chips boasts the highest 'carrier mobility' yet measured.
In this micrograph of an experimental transistor, blue highlighting indicates areas of "strain," where germanium atoms have been forced closer together than they find comfortable. One of the reasons for the transistor's record-setting performance is that the strain has been relaxed in the lateral direction. Image: Winston Chern, Pouya Hashemi, and James Teherani