Memristors: From Theory to Reality

First conceived in 1971, memristors existed only in theory until 2008, when HP Labs announced it had successfully developed them. Memristors are similar to transistors, a basic component of microchips, except that where transistors can only register the presence or absence of electrical current, memristors can recognize and “remember” the amount of electrical current that passes through them. They therefore have the potential to revolutionize integrated circuit technology, possibly even leading to processors that can mimic the neural and synaptic functions of the human brain.