Nonvolatile memory that can store data even when not powered is currently used for portable electronics such as smart phones, tablets, and laptop computers. Flash memory is a dominant technology in this field, but its slow writing and erasing speed has led to extensive research into a next-generation nonvolatile memory called Phase-Change Random Access Memory (PRAM), as PRAM's operating speed is 1,000 times faster than that of flash memory. Scientists have now developed a phase-change memory with low power consumption (below 1/20th of its present level) by employing self-assembled block copolymer silica nanostructures.

Source: Self-assembled nanostructures enable a low-power phase-change memory for mobile electronic devices