A new breakthrough in the field of semiconductors is exploiting platinum to help deliver highly-powerful computers.

Developers at technology firm Hewlett-Packard have devised a 'crossbar latch' system, which effectively substitutes the transistor for an interlocked series of tiny platinum wires. Where the wires cross, steric acid molecules are located at the junctions.

According to the scientists, this composition of criss-crossing wires means that logic functions can be produced when an electrical signal is passed through the system.

Now, the team is aiming to link up a series of these crossbar latches in order to produce the beginnings of what could ultimately be a 'super-computer'.

Writing in the Journal of Applied Physics, HP Labs scientist Duncan Stewart explained the significance of the development: "The power of this device is not when it's by itself. It's when it glues together other pieces of logic. As soon as you're able to do that, we call that a computer."

The nano-scale of the technology would enable scientists to generate far greater efficacy using a smaller area, meaning that increased power could be compressed into a smaller device.

One of the lead authors of the paper, Stan Williams, characterises the team's work as "reinventing the computer at the molecular scale", although the team anticipates more work before the technology is ready for the commercial arena.