U.S. material scientists are reportedly creating strange compounds that could make the electronic components of the future smaller, faster and more durable.

The U.S. Department of Energy says Alexander Goncharov of the Carnegie Institution’s Geophysical Laboratory and colleagues have used extreme temperatures and pressures in an attempt to make two durable compounds called noble metal nitrides. They are the first to succeed in making one of them, and the first to accurately determine the chemical formula of the other.

Both nitrides possess a diamond-like hardness, and some compositions might have very low, nearly superconductive electrical resistance — a blend that could prove quite valuable to industry, Energy Department officials said.

The two nitrides — one containing iridium and the other containing platinum — might replace titanium nitrides used by the semiconductor industry as surface coatings because of their strength and durability. The researchers say iridium and platinum nitrides might be even more durable.