This laboratory accident could drastically transform digital memory ⚡

Digital memory represents one of the major challenges of the current technological era. With the rise of connected devices, the demand for increasingly efficient and energy-saving storage systems continues to grow. A recent breakthrough might just revolutionize this sector.

Researchers have discovered a semiconductor capable of reducing the energy consumption of a promising digital memory technology by a billion times. This advancement could be a decisive turning point for the future of storage technologies.


Phase-change memory (PCM) is garnering increasing interest due to its exceptional performance. This technology allows data to be stored both quickly and permanently. In short, it combines the speed of RAM with the durable storage of SSDs. It is based on the ability of certain materials to switch between two states: crystalline and amorphous. Data is encoded through these state transitions, but the energy-intensive process limits its large-scale use.

The usual process required to change the state in PCM involves heating a material to achieve one of the two desired phases. This entails intense heat followed by rapid cooling. While effective, this method demands significant amounts of energy. However, the discovery of a semiconductor, indium selenide, might eliminate this energy requirement.

This material has unique properties, being both ferroelectric and piezoelectric. This means it can generate an internal electric field or deform under an electrical charge. These characteristics are at the heart of the mechanism that drastically reduces the energy demands of PCM. During their experiments, researchers discovered that a direct current alone was enough to induce a state transition in the material, eliminating the need for traditional energy-intensive stages.

Moreover, researchers observed microscopic deformations generating an acoustic wave that disrupts the crystalline structure of the material. This phenomenon, compared to an avalanche, triggers a transformation that requires minimal energy. Initially considered an experimental error, this discovery was ultimately validated as a new reliable and efficient approach to store data in phase-change memory.

Using this semiconductor could potentially reduce the energy footprint of many electronic systems. This would have particularly significant implications in sectors like data centers, which currently consume nearly 1% of the world's energy. Such a breakthrough could help lower this consumption while enhancing the performance of digital devices.

The properties of indium selenide are not limited to digital memory. They open up possibilities in fields such as photonics and electronics, with potential applications in sensors or adaptive circuits. Research continues to fully explore the potential of this material.

The significance of this discovery also lies in the accidental element that made it possible. While experimenting with materials for conventional uses, researchers uncovered an unprecedented behavior. This advancement is a reminder that some of the most remarkable scientific discoveries are born from unexpected observations.

Such a breakthrough could also play a strategic role. If commercialized on a large scale, it could reduce the technological dependence of certain countries, such as the United States on China, by making local semiconductor production more autonomous.