Abstract
In a television picture tube electrons move from the cathode to the picture screen ballistically: their motion follows smooth trajectories that are not interrupted by interactions or collisions with other particles. Because there are very few gas molecules in the tube, gas molecules do not scatter many electrons. In semiconducting devices such as transistors, on the other hand, the motion of the current-carrying electrons is constantly interrupted by scattering. Each electron is scattered frequently and in every direction, so that its motion resembles the random motion of a molecule in an ordinary gas or liquid. The average electron covers a distance in random motion much greater than the net distance in travels. The net flow of electrons in the direction of the electric field is consequently much slower than the actual speed of the electrons. If it were somehow possible to enable electrons in semiconductors to move without scattering - to move ballistically - then the speed of transistors could in principle be increased dramatically. This possibility is discussed.
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