Microchips are in pretty much all of our electronic devices—if it’s got a plug or a battery, it’s probably got a chip. For the past 60 years, most of these have been made of silicon. But new devices demand faster, better, and more efficient processors, and engineers are hitting silicon’s physical limits. In this episode of the Future of Everything, WSJ’s Alex Ossola digs into the future of chips—how scientists are boosting silicon’s capabilities and looking for other materials that could take its place.

Further reading: 

Graphene and Beyond: The Wonder Materials That Could Replace Silicon in Future Tech 

The Microchip Era Is Giving Way to the Megachip Age 

Chips Act Will Create More Than One Million Jobs, Biden Says Timeline of silicon’s development (Computer History Museum) 

Christopher Mims’ tech column for the Wall Street Journal 

Deji Akinwande's research page at the University of Texas at Austin 

Stephen Forrest's profile page at the University of Michigan 

Deep Jariwala's lab page the the University of Pennsylvania Wolfspeed's website 

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