ballistic transport

noun

physics

: a phenomenon in physics where electrons travel at high speeds within a medium (such as a semiconductor) without scattering off of obstacles (such as atoms or other electrons)

Small conventional devices have been demonstrated to enter an ultra-high-speed mode of conduction called ballistic transport.

—Predicasts Technology Update, 29 Jan. 1983

Word History

First Known Use

1979, in the meaning defined above

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