Xueying Zhang

A superconducting quantum interferometer is a device that senses magnetic fields billions of times weaker than the needle of an ordinary compass. Inside it, there is a narrow bridge where superconductivity briefly breaks.

A librarian in a rare-book archive takes a volume from the shelf and puts it back without waking the cat dozing nearby. That is roughly how the new quantum memory works: it catches a photon, tucks it into the mechanical vibration of a tiny silicon bridge, and returns it on request.