Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun physics A passive electrical element in which the electrical resistance is proportional to the integral of the electrical current between the terminals.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • The memristor is now deemed the future of computer memory because of its odd behavior: The more electricity you run through it, the more its electrical resistance increases.

    Five words shaping our future Steven E. Levingston 2010

  • Semiconductor companies have spent billions investing in memristor-free chip designs, and it may not be easy to get them to change, he says.

    HP research may lead to boot-free PCs 2008

  • The concept of a "memristor" -- the name is a portmanteau of "memory" and "transistor" -- has been around since 1971, when it was described in a paper by UC Berkeley professor Leon Chua.

    Computerworld News 2010

  • HP Labs researchers have discovered that the "memristor" - a resistor with memory that represents the fourth basic circuit element in electrical engineering - has more capabilities than was previously thought.

    WebWire | Recent Headlines 2010

  • The microscopic device, called a memristor, could one day lead to PCs that don't need to boot up and music players with more memory and battery life.

    HP research may lead to boot-free PCs 2008

  • The microscopic device, called a memristor, could one day lead to PCs ...

    Past Tech Trends & Products: Technology Live Archive 2008

  • The new component is called a memristor, or memory resistor.

    Scientists Create First Memristor « Isegoria 2008

  • The new component is called a memristor, or memory resistor.

    April « 2008 « Isegoria 2008

  • They will be hybrids, three-dimensional systems in which lower-level circuits will be based on a nanoelectronic technology called the memristor, which Hewlett-Packard is developing to store data.

    NYT > Home Page By JOHN MARKOFF 2011

  • Researchers at HP Labs have proven the existence of a fourth fundamental circuit element in electrical engineering called the memristor -- short for memory resistor.

    Top Tech News 2010

Comments

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  • The four passive components of electronics are the resistor, capacitor, inductor and the memristor, which was discovered only a few months ago. Memristors (from memory-resistors, geddit?) are resistors whose resistance depends on their past. In that sense they remember the past or, as an electronics engineer might put it, they store information. From the article:

    Memristors Made into Low Cost, High Density RRAM (Resistive Random Access Memory)

    January 17, 2009

  • a circuit component; relates charge and magnetic flux; theorized by Leon Chua in 1971; recently achieved on nanoscale

    July 8, 2009