All a Matter of Bonds – The Chemistry of Memory
Chemical mechanisms in smartphone storage decoded
A small pocket computer has become our constant companion: the smartphone. It connects us to the world, provides access to news, knowledge and entertainment, and serves at the same time as a camera, notebook and data storage device. Yet until recently, the precise way in which all this data is stored within these compact devices was not fully understood.
Researchers from SAMSUNG, together with Prof. Richard Dronskowski, member of JARA-FIT and JARA-CSD and Chair of Solid-State and Quantum Chemistry at RWTH Aachen University, have now succeeded in deciphering the underlying chemical processes on an atomic level.
At the heart of data storage lies what is known as flash memory, used in smartphones, laptops and memory cards. By employing quantum-chemical simulations and the analysis programme LOBSTER, developed by Dronskowski and his team, the researchers were able to show that reversible chemical reactions occur during each storage and deletion process: silicon–nitrogen bonds break and reform.
This process accounts for the remarkable stability and rewritability of flash memory, an important finding that could pave the way for the development of new and more efficient storage materials.
The results of the study have been published in the journal Science Advances.
Further information about this research is available on the RWTH Aachen University website: https://www.rwth-aachen.de/cms/root/wir/aktuell/pressemitteilungen/november-2025/~bqnipy/smartphone-speicher-alles-eine-frage-de/?lidx=1