Researchers at HP Labs have developed a new type of memory circuit element that could soon lead to a new generation of computers that are significantly faster and “smarter” than anything that exists today.
The circuit element is called a “memristor,” short for “memory resistor.” Made from the latest generation of nanomaterials—composites so small they can only be seen with a microscope—the memristor is unique in that it can “remember” the amount of current running through it. Computers with memristor circuits could boot up almost instantly, load even complex programs in just one or two seconds, and even “learn” from accumulated experience much like the human mind.
The idea of the memristor was developed all the way back in 1971 by an engineering student named Leon Chua. (Chua is now a professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at the University of California-Berkley.) However, it remained only a theory until just recently when, quite by accident, HP researchers stumbled across some new nanomaterials that behaved much like Chua’s theoretical “memristors.” Follow-up experiments suggested that, indeed, these materials are memristors and could soon revolutionize the computer industry.
Because of this breakthrough, electrical engineers must now add memristors to the list of other fundamental circuit elements, which include the resistor, the capacitor and the inductor.
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