Electronics giant HP has joined the world's second-largest memory chip maker Hynix to manufacture a novel member of the electronics family.
The deal will see "memristors" - first demonstrated by HP in 2006 - mass produced for the first time.
The devices started as a theoretical prediction in 1971 but HP's demonstration and publication of a real working device has put them on a possible roadmap to replace memory chips or even hard drives.
They are considered to be the "missing link" in electronics, a fourth element to supplement the more familiar resistor, capacitor and inductor that together form the basis of every electronic device yet made.
In short, it is a resistor with memory: applying an electric voltage can change how much the device blocks electric current - and memristors can "remember" that level - even when the power is turned off.
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