Discovery may make possible new family of electronic devices

A discovery that yields new scientific concepts and may make possible a new family of electronic devices was announced recently by the General Electric Company (GE). An electronic process known as “tunneling,” which has previously proved useful in carefully prepared semiconductor materials, has been observed for the first time in devices of simpler configuration. These devices consist of two metal films separated by a thin insulating layer, with one or both of the metal films in the superconducting state, that is, offering no resistance to passage of an electric current.