HP discovers memristor

H-P’s discovery of the memristor, a fourth circuit type, may mean a new member joins the capacitor, the resistor and the inductor in the pantheon of circuit element types. HP researchers created a working memristor on their way to creating a successful nano-scale crossbar switch. The memristor’s existence had been theorized 37 years ago by UC Berkeley professor Leon Chua.

The thing is a triumph for flux and hysterisis, formulated on titanium dioxide. The memristor will enable a new era of nanoscale electronics, say the scientists.

EETimes’ Colin Johnson went straight to the source with his story on the memristor. He spoke at length with Chua, who postulated the part in a 1971 paper. Chua sees this in grand historical strokes. A sample:

The hold-up over the last 37 years, according to professor Chua, has been a misconception that has pervaded electronic circuit theory. That misconception is that the fundamental relationship in passive circuitry is between voltage and charge. What the researchers contend is that the fundamental relationship is actually between changes-in-voltage, or flux, and charge. Such is the insight that enabled HP to invent the memristor, according to Chua and Williams.

“Electronic theorists have been using the wrong pair of variables all these years — voltage and charge. The missing part of electronic theory was that the fundamental pair of variables is flux and charge,” said Chua. “The situation is analogous to what is called “Aristotle’s Law of Motion, which was wrong, because he said that force must be proportional to velocity. That misled people for 2000 years until Newton came along and pointed out that Aristotle was using the wrong variables. Newton said that force is proportional to acceleration — the change in velocity. This is exactly the situation with electronic circuit theory today. All electronic text books have been teaching using the wrong variables — voltage and charge–explaining away inaccuracies as anomalies.
The hold-up over the last 37 years, according to professor Chua, has been a misconception that has pervaded electronic circuit theory. That misconception is that the fundamental relationship in passive circuitry is between voltage and charge. What the researchers contend is that the fundamental relationship is actually between changes-in-voltage, or flux, and charge. Such is the insight that enabled HP to invent the memristor, according to Chua and Williams.

“Electronic theorists have been using the wrong pair of variables all these years — voltage and charge. The missing part of electronic theory was that the fundamental pair of variables is flux and charge,” said Chua. “The situation is analogous to what is called “Aristotle’s Law of Motion, which was wrong, because he said that force must be proportional to velocity. That misled people for 2000 years until Newton came along and pointed out that Aristotle was using the wrong variables. Newton said that force is proportional to acceleration — the change in velocity. This is exactly the situation with electronic circuit theory today. All electronic text books have been teaching using the wrong variables — voltage and charge–explaining away inaccuracies as anomalies.

Colin Johnson on Chua and the Memristor - InfoWeek, May 2008