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Molecular memristors offer a path to ultra-efficient computing

Future progress in computing calls for innovative ways to map the physical characteristics of materials to the logic functions needed by computing architectures. An electronic device called a molecular memristor provides a way forward.
  1. Matthew J. Marinella

    1. Matthew J. Marinella is at the Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87123, USA.

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  2. A. Alec Talin

    1. A. Alec Talin is at the Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, California 94550, USA.

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Over the past 75 years, the performance, efficiency and information density of computers have each increased by a factor of about one trillion. Since the invention of the microchip, these improvements have largely resulted from the downscaling of electronic components known as complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) transistors. However, CMOS scaling has now lost steam and no longer provides marked performance upgrades, presenting a roadblock for computing progress. Overcoming this hurdle will require innovative methods to link the intrinsic physical properties of materials to the logic functions required by computing algorithms. In a paper in Nature, Goswami et al.1 demonstrate that the history-dependent electrical properties of a new molecular system can be harnessed to form both common and highly complex logic functions for a wide range of algorithms.

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Nature 597, 36-37 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-02323-x

References

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Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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