Memristor

The memristor ( /ˈmɛmrɨstər/; a portmanteau of "memory resistor") was originally envisioned in 1971 by circuit theorist Leon Chua as a missing non-linear passive two-terminal electrical component relating electric charge and magnetic flux linkage. Leon Chua has more recently said that the memristor definition could be generalized to cover all forms of 2-terminal non-volatile memory devices based on resistance switching effects and Chua has said that the memristor is the oldest known circuit element with its effects predating the resistor, capacitor and inductor. The memristor is currently under development by various teams including Hewlett-Packard, SK Hynix, and HRL Laboratories.