Teeny Tiny Transistors

In the video, Marques points out that transistors are shrinking down to the atomic level. In 1948, transistors sizes varied from about the size of a shoelace tip, to about the size of a large paper clip. Now, in 2026, transistors sizes very from 15-25 atoms to molecules.

[image of a shoelace tip] vs [image of 15-25 atoms]

In a modern iPhone, a chip has millions of transistors. in order for old transistors to fit in a iPhone, the phone would have to be about the size of the state of New Jersey. The reason for this is because Moore’s Law states that technology shrinks about every 2 years. That means technology has shrunk about 39 times since the first computer transistors were created.

If transistors to eventually reach the atomic level, the device wont work properly and could result in electron leakage. The tech community continuously shrinks transistors so they can fit more of them inside of a chip. More transistors, means faster and more powerful computing. Well when is it going to be enough? When will the tech community stop shrinking transistors? According to my research, if a transistor is only a few atoms long, it could result in quantum effects and leakage. The transistors are already 15-25 atoms long. If they keep shrinking them, in a few years, they will be prone to electron leakage, quantum effects, and much much more.