Tiny laser beam could make computer memory 1,000 times faster

Engineers at UC San Diego demonstrated optical switching of magnetism in a nine-layer platinum-cobalt structure. Focused ultrafast laser pulses could write data up to 1,000 times faster than external magnetic fields and no longer require a specific light polarization.

• Optical switching could write data 1,000 times faster than magnetic fields
• Works on a nine-layer platinum-cobalt structure instead of three layers
• Specific light polarization is no longer required
• Smaller beam enables denser optical memory, says professor Abdoulaye Ndao