Switching element made of Cr2O3 may yield smaller, more energy-efficient memory for computers and flash drives

For years, manufacturers have offered computers with increasing amounts of memory packed into smaller devices. But semiconductor companies can't reduce the size of memory components as quickly as they used to, and current designs are not energy-efficient. Conventional memory devices use transistors and rely on electric fields to store and read out information. An alternative approach being heavily investigated uses magnetic fields to store information. One promising version of magnetic device re...