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1 Page 1 of 6 The Sydney Morning Herald: national, world, business, entertainment, sport and technology news from Australia's leading newspaper. Skip directly to: Search Box, Section Navigation, Content. Text Version. Boost Mobile Phones No contract cell phones w/ minutes as low as 10. "Where You At?" NEWS MYCAREER DOMAIN DRIVE FINANCE MOBILE RSVP TRAVEL network map member centre NRI Indian's in the US. Trade & Gain from the Indian Stock market with Axis Bank. Apply Now! Sydney Morning Herald - Business News, World News & Breaking News in Australia Digital Life - High tech gadgets, technology news & tech reviews Home entertainment Cameras & camcorders MP3 players Games Mobiles & handhelds Computers Broadband Plans Mobile Plans Home» Technology» Digital Life» Laptops» Articles Show site sections Search smh: Search here... Memory boost Printer friendly version Normal font Large font Jordan Robertson, AP June 12, 2008

2 Page 2 of 6 Advertisement Researchers unearth a new circuit element. By Jordan Robertson. For nearly 40 years scientists have speculated that basic electrical circuits have a natural ability to remember things even when the power is switched off. They just couldn't find it. Now, researchers at Hewlett-Packard have proven them right with a discovery they hope will lead to memory chips that store more data but consume far less power than those found in today's personal computers and other digital devices. The newly discovered circuit element - called a memristor - could enable mobile phones that can go weeks or longer without a charge, PCs that start up instantly and laptops that retain your session information long after the battery dies. It also could challenge flash memory, which is now widely used in portable electronics because of its ability to retain information even when power is off. Chips incorporating the HP discovery would be faster, use less power and take up far less space than today's flash. "It certainly looks promising," says Wolfgang Porod, professor of electrical engineering at the University of Notre Dame and director of the university's Centre for Nano Science and Technology. "However, if it's going to be 100 times better or 1000 times better (than today's flash), it's very hard to say at this point." Scientists have suspected since the '70s that along with the three well-known elements of a basic circuit - the resistor, the capacitor and the inductor - a fourth fundamental building block is possible. The memristor built by HP Labs researchers and reported in the scientific journal Nature is made with a layer of titanium dioxide sandwiched between two metal electrodes. The researchers discovered that the amount of resistance it exerts depends on how much electric charge had previously passed through it. That characteristic gives the memristor an innate ability to remember the amount of charge that has flowed through it long after the power to it is turned off. That means the circuit itself can be built with a memory function baked in. Otherwise, the information has to be stored in power-hungry transistors configured for storage. Some outside researchers, however, believe more study is required before the memristor upsets the memory business. The HP Labs team says commercial viability is at least "a few years" away. "These structures are going to be very small. It's obvious to me one could make very dense memory out of them. But how it could compete against other memory like flash remains to be seen," says Professor Porod, who was not involved in the HP research. Leon Chua, a professor in the electrical engineering and computer sciences department at the University of California, published a paper in 1971 theorising that it should be possible to build such a structure. He says now: "I never thought I'd live long enough to see this happen. I'm thrilled because it's almost like vindication. Something I did is not just in my imagination." Over the years, researchers observed behaviour that seemed to suggest circuits possessed this ability, but they either dismissed it as a fluke or didn't realise the significance of the observation.

3 Stan Williams, a senior fellow at HP Labs and one of the four researchers on the Nature paper, says his team was able to identify the behaviour and build a structure to harness its power because the effect is more apparent - and gets stronger - as the wiring in the circuits gets smaller. AP Page 3 of 6 Print this story Normal font Large font When news happens: send photos, videos & tip-offs to 0424 SMS SMH ( ), or us. Don't miss your free reusable energy saving reminder stickers, only with The Sun-Herald this Sunday. Fly Anywhere to Anywhere at Best Flights Heart disease kills women Go Red June 13 Share your Arnott's moment to win $10,000 cash. 8.59% - Get a better home loan with MyRate Free Book-Millionaire Phenomena Secrets Save $$$ on car rental from big brands Big game bargain hunters shop at ebay Find tickets to concerts at MyTickets News Blogs Latest Digital Life News 1. Keys to change 2. Winning ways 3. Media centres: what you need to know 4. What lies beneath 5. Myth buster Latest Laptop Reviews 1. Review: Palm centro 2. Bluetooth speaker phones 3. Review: Krusell phone cases 4. Review: Philips internet phone 5. Review: KNFB Reader phone 6. Voiis pocket messenger phone More Laptop Reviews Featured Promotions The new Volkswagen TDI engines range Produce less CO2 than an equivalent size petrol engine Queensland's Natural adventures Check out our must-try natural adventures in Queensland.

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