As chip manufacturers edge ever closer to the limits of what can be achieved with silicon, researchers have been exploring ways of boosting performance and power efficiency by stacking other components. One such group from MIT has pushed the boundaries of what seemed impossible just a few years ago, though, by developing a technique to attach GaN transistors onto a silicon chip, which could lead to even better wireless devices.
If you've bought a decent charger for a laptop, phone, or other mobile device recently, there's a good chance it's a GaN-based one. Gallium nitride (GaN) is a semiconducting material like doped silicon, but when it comes to dealing with high temperatures, voltages, and current transmission, GaN has the latter well and truly beat.
