HP works on memristor-based processors

What is a processor?
Refers to a system that accepts a program as input, prepares it for execution and executes the process defined with data to produce results. Can be a short term for a microprocessor or central processing unit (CPU) in computer.

What is a memristor?
A memristor (short for "memory resistor") is a passive two-terminal circuit element that maintains a functional relationship between the time integrals of current and voltage. This function, called memristance, is similar to variable resistance.
In 1971, Leon Chua, a University of California, Berkeley engineer, examined the relationships between charge and flux in resistors, capacitors, and inductors in a paper and postulated the existence of a fourth element called the memory resistor.
On April 30, 2008 a team at HP Labs announced the development of a switching memristor. The HP device is composed of a 50nm titanium dioxide film between two 5nm thick electrodes, one Ti, the other Pt.
In November 2008, HP researcher Qiangfei Xia provided details of a prototype 3D memristor chip that stacked memristor crossbar memory cells on top of a CMOS logic IC.
In March 2009, Yiran Chen and Xiaobin Wang, researchers at disc-drive manufacturer Seagate Technology, described more examples of possible magnetic memristors.
Memristor devices could find applications in computing. For instance, researchers claim that a memory based on memristors could be 1,000 times faster than magnetic disks while using less power.