By Josh Perry, Editor
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Electrical engineers from the University of Delaware (Newark, Del.) discovered that novel semi-metallic materials composed of alloys of tin and germanium have properties like Weyl semi-metals, which were initially theorized by physicists in the 1930s as massless particles that could carry a charge at high speeds and were recently detected in a unique class of materials.

The dark square in the center is a thin film of germanium tin semimetal, with copper wire electrodes, and is undergoing electrical and optical measurements for the possible presence of Weyl fermions. (University of Delaware)

According to a report from the university, the Delaware researchers are the first to see these properties in this particular material. These materials are potentially important because they can efficiently conduct electricity as much as 10 times faster than current semiconductors, such as silicon.

“The materials they are studying, molybdenum telluride and germanium tin alloys, act like Weyl semimetals,” the report explained. “For example, they are very responsive to light that vibrates in a circular pattern, a property of Weyl semimetals that could be particularly useful in optical and electronic applications, from remote sensing to medicine and more.”

Engineers are working to try and adapt the material properties into real-world applications such as devices that work at high speeds but with low power requirements. The report said, “Even in heavy use, laptops and cell phones wouldn’t overheat, and the batteries would last much longer than they do now.”

Optimizing solar cells and detectors that can enhance thermal imaging are two potential applications that Delaware researchers are studying.