One of simplest yet most essential logic functions in computing devices was performed, not by a silicon based transistor, today's most advanced method, but by a molecule-sized device. The tiny device was created by Hewlett-Packard researchers.

Three scientists are credited for the work which will be published in the Journal of Applied Physics. According to the researchers, working at the company's Quantum Science Research Group, the innovation could one day come to replace today's transistors that are used in today's computers.

While still a dream, theoretically, the Hewlett-Packard researchers say, their technology could lead to computers that are thousands of times more powerful than what's available now. Molecular, or nano-sized devices could overcome the limitations that transistors will meet in the upcoming years, because of limits imposed by their physical makeup.

The researchers have developed a "crossbar latch." A rudimentary device, it is made up of three wires, one wire crossed by the other two with molecular-scale junctions where the wires intersect. Electrical impulses sent to the latch cause it to perform one of the key functions binary computers perform. The NOT operation, with AND and OR, is one of three basic operations that make up the primary logic of a computer circuit.

Stan Williams, HP senior fellow and director of the Quantum Science Research Group, commented, "We are reinventing the computer at the molecular scale." He said the crossbar is a fundamental elemental if the technology is to be used in the creation of cheaper devices that are also easier to build."

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