Overview
- Cornell-led researchers used electron ptychography with an Electron Microscope Pixel Array Detector to reconstruct 3D atomic positions inside gate-all-around transistor channels.
- The images exposed interface roughness—nicknamed “mouse bites”—where the gate meets the channel, a feature that can slow electron flow.
- Researchers say the tool enables direct, after-step checks during the hundreds of etch, deposition, and heating steps used to build chips.
- Prototype measurements indicated only about 60% of silicon in 5 nm channels retained a perfect bulk-like structure, with the rest altered by strain and roughness.
- The Feb. 23, 2026 Nature Communications paper reports a collaboration spanning Cornell, TSMC, ASM, and Imec, with support from NSF-backed CCMR and PARADIM.