A new electronic component that contains platinum layers could replace transistors as the building blocks of computer chips to create faster and more efficient computers.

Stanley Williams and his team have constructed a memristor after placing a film of titanium dioxide between two platinum layers.

By applying voltage between the platinum layers the engineers manipulated the atoms in the titanium to create an imbalance in the distribution of electric charge making the titanium a good conductor.

This turns the memristor to "on" while reversing the voltage turns it to "off" meaning that it can act like a transistor and process information.

"All of a sudden, you have a new tool in your toolbox," Mr Williams said.

The main advantage of the technology is that it could be packed into chips up to 110 times more densely than existing transistors, offering an alterative way to "continue progress".

Leon Chua, an electrical engineer at the University of California, told Science News that the researchers had not only built a device but they had shown that "as you get smaller and smaller, transistors are going to stop working".

The research is published in the May 1st edition of Nature.

Source:

Down with the transistor, 30/04/08
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/31637/title/Down_with_the_transistor