The ultimate switch

From the outside, transistors seem so simple and straightforward. But inside, they´re actually a mess. If you could watch them working at the level of atoms, you´d see the electronic equivalent of a game of bumper cars. Electrons moving through even the best transistor channel can´t go in straight lines. Instead they´re buffeted continually by a host of imperfections and vibrations, which together put a strict limit on speed and generate a lot of heat in the process.