New material may be next silicon

PALO ALTO, Calif., June 16 (UPI) -- Researchers at Stanford University in California say the chemical compound bismuth telluride could become the basis of more powerful computers.

The physicists found bismuth telluride has an interesting property -- it allows electrons to travel through it without losing energy, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

"We're at the very beginning of understanding this new class of materials," said Yulin Chen of the Stanford Institute for Materials & Energy Science. "The next step is to apply what we've learned -- to see if it can be fabricated and made functional."

Computers have become faster, more powerful and smaller during recent years. Engineers have been able to double the number of components on a silicon chip every two years.

But experts say silicon technology may reach its limits and are looking for a possible successor. One possibility is known as spintronics, or using electrons' spin to carry information.