Memtransistor one step closer to brain computing

Boffins at Northwestern University's McCormick School of Engineering have emerged from their smoke filled labs clutching a "memtransistor" which they claim is the closest thing we have to a computer chip that works a bit like the human brain.

While coffee does not power it, and it will work first thing on a Monday morning, the new chip can devise that both stores information in memory and processes information. The combined transistor and memory resistor work more like a neuron and purports to make computing more brain-like.

The new "memtransistor" would use less energy than digital computers and eliminate the need to run memory and processing as separate functions while also being more brain-like.

Lead researcher Mark C. Hersam boffin said that the brain-like efficacy of the memtransistor was jolly efficient.

"In the brain, we don't usually have one neuron connected to only one other neuron. Instead, one neuron is connected to multiple other neurons to form a network. Our device structure allows multiple contacts, which is similar to the multiple synapses in neurons. Making dozens of devices, as we have done in our paper, is different than making a billion, which is done with conventional transistor technology today."

Hersam said that there were no barriers to scaling up to billions of devices. This new technology would make smart devices more capable and possibly more seemingly-human. The gear may promote advances in neural networks and brain-computer interfaces.