A tiny laser beam could make computer memory 1,000 times faster

Scientists at UC San Diego have developed a surprising new way to store digital information using light instead of magnets, potentially paving the way for smaller, faster, and more energy-efficient memory devices. By precisely shaping and shrinking an ultrafast laser beam, researchers demonstrated that they could switch magnetic states in a material, the basic process used to write digital data. The technique could potentially operate more than 1,000 times faster than conventional magnetic switching methods.