IBM’s Almaden Research Center and Stanford University have announced an agreement to work together on spintronics. The goal: usher in a second era of electronics based on manipulating an electron’s spin rather than transfer of charge.

It is proving difficult to achieve ever-higher levels of integration using traditional semiconductor scaling techniques, largely because of higher power consumption.

“Spin current,” which comes from angular momentum of rotating electrons, does not dissipate into heat, can be achieved at room temperature, and is compatible with silicon.