Researchers from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and Shanghai Institute of Microsystems and Information Technology have nano-engineered a superlattice data storage material. Data is recorded at the interfaces of the superlattice layers. When the atoms at the interface are disordered, the material has a high electrical resistance while the ordered interface has a low electrical resistance. Only the interface switches, a subset of layers within the material, can remain unchanged and crystalline. This means that the interface can be engineered by the non-switching layers—the entire structure need not switch into a disordered state. This makes the superlattice very different to unstructured phase change memory alloys, such as the Ge2Sb2Te5 alloy.