Researchers at the Sandia National Laboratory in New Mexico have traced the
exact path taken by electric current flowing through a transistor, a feat which
promises to improve the designs of microchips. The team modified a scanning
capacitance microscope for the task. By observing changes of capacitance across
a transistor, the team were able to work out the path along which current
flowed. Commercial chip makers should soon have access to this technology
because a leading microscope maker, Digital Instruments, plans to offer the
modification as an option on its capacitance microscopes.
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