HIEE401807R0001 ABB CM C910 A Flash Memory Subboard

Like a hard drive, flash memory stores digital information and “remembers” it even when the power is turned off. Unlike hard drives, flash memory doesn’t have any moving parts. It can withstand strong impacts, can withstand large temperature changes, and sometimes can even be submerged in water. This makes it an ideal memory for portable devices.

Flash memory works by turning transistors on and off to represent sequences of zeros and ones. Unlike conventional transistors, which “forget” information when the power is turned off, transistors in flash memory have an extra “gate” that captures the charge and registers it as a 1 until another electric field is applied to drain the charge and return the bit to 0.

Flash memory is used in mobile phones, MP3 players, digital cameras and memory sticks, and they are often used to back up files or transfer files between computers. Some memory sticks have a storage capacity of 32 gigabytes, enough to store about 20 hours of video.