Record-setting charge mobility in germanium-silicon material points to energy-saving quantum chips

Most modern semiconductors are fabricated of or on silicon (Si), but as devices get smaller and denser, they dissipate more power and, as a result, are reaching their physical limits. Germanium (Ge)—once used in the first transistors of the 1950s—is now making a comeback as researchers find new ways to harness its superior properties while keeping the benefits of silicon's established manufacturing technologies.