Ordinary computer memory constantly consumes energy to avoid forgetting what's stored. A superconductor could store data without loss, but it's hard to make it switch.
In the new work, a superconductor is sandwiched between two magnetic insulators. The magnetic layers act like two magnets: if their poles point in the same direction, superconductivity is on; if they point in opposite directions, it's off. That gives you a memory cell.
To write data, the cell is heated with a tiny heat pulse and the magnetic layers are rotated. Reading is faster than in conventional flash memory and uses almost no energy.
Such memory could become the basis for computers that barely heat up and run on superconducting logic.
Superconducting memory operates at temperatures below -200°C — colder than the surface of Pluto.