Phase-Change Media

Phase-change media are storage devices that use materials capable of switching between solid and amorphous (non-crystalline) states to represent data. When heated by an electrical current, these materials change phase: they can be set to a crystalline form (representing one binary state) or cooled rapidly into an amorphous form (representing the other). This reversible process allows data to be written, erased, and read efficiently, making phase-change media suitable for rewritable optical discs and emerging data storage technologies. They combine the durability of solid-state memory with the ability to rewrite data multiple times.