Washington, December 10 : Computer monitors and televisions embedded inside glass or transparent plastic may soon hit the market, thanks to the creation of a working computer chip that is almost completely clear.

The new technology, called transparent resistive random access memory (TRRAM), has been developed by scientists at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).

A research article in the journal Applied Physics Letters says that the new chip is similar in type to an existing technology known as complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) memory, a common commercial chips that provide the data storage for USB flash drives and other devices.

The write-up adds that the new chip provides "non-volatile" memory just like CMOS devices, meaning that it stores digital information without losing data when it is powered off.

The researchers say that transparency appears to be beneficial because it may make allow electronic devices to be consolidated and stacked in small clear spaces.

They are presently trying to develop a TRRAM using flexible materials.

"It is a new milestone of transparent electronic systems. By integrating TRRAM device with other transparent electronic components, we can create a total see-through embedded electronic system," says researcher Jung Won Seo, who is the first author on the paper.

The Korean researchers say that TRRAM devices are easy to fabricate, and may be commercially available in just three to four years.

"We are sure that TRRAM will become one of alternative devices to current CMOS-based flash memory in the near future after its reliability is proven and once any manufacturing issues are solved," says Professor Jae-Woo Park, who is Seo''s co-advisor and co-author on the paper.

He adds that the new devices have the potential to be manufactured cheaply because any transparent materials can be utilized as substrate and electrode, and also because they may not require incorporating rare elements like Indium. (ANI)