Overview
- Researchers at the University of Southern California reported in Science that a lab-built memristor kept working at about 700°C with no signs of failing.
- The chip ran on just 1.5 volts for more than 50 hours at that temperature and completed over one billion switching cycles during the tests.
- The device is a nanoscale three-layer stack of tungsten, hafnium oxide, and graphene in a memristor that can both store data and perform simple computing.
- Graphene’s chemistry with tungsten blocks metal atoms from anchoring across the device at high heat, which prevents short circuits validated by electron microscopy and simulations.
- The prototype was handmade in the lab, so work now turns to pairing it with high‑temperature logic and scaling fabrication for use in places like Venus, deep‑earth drilling, and advanced energy systems.