Over the last 35 years, the transistors that make up computer chips have steadily shrunk, leading to smaller, faster and cheaper PCs. But while transistors perform the chip's computations, they can't do their work without other key electronic components-the resistors, capacitors and inductors that store and route power across circuit boards. Typically plunked down on the surface of a circuit board, these components have hardly shrunk over time, and they hog prime computing real estate-like a parking lot in downtown Manhattan. This places severe limits on how much smaller cell phones, personal digital assistants and computers can be made.

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