An aerospace systems engineer is selecting storage for a high-altitude research drone that will experience extreme vibrations and temperature fluctuations. They decide to use a Solid-State Drive (SSD) utilizing NAND flash memory. Identify the correct physical mechanism used by NAND flash memory cells to store and retain binary states when the drone's power is turned off.
Microscopic magnetic domains on a cobalt-alloy thin film are aligned using a miniature electromagnet to alter local magnetic polarity.
Electrons are forced through an insulating oxide layer and trapped inside a floating gate, altering the threshold voltage of the transistor.
A blue-violet laser alters the reflectivity of a phase-change alloy layer, shifting it between crystalline and amorphous states.
A continuous electric current is sustained in a feedback loop of cross-coupled NAND gates to maintain the logic state.
76 exam-style questions on Edexcel GCSE Computer Science Hardware, covering Von Neumann architecture and FDE cycle, Secondary storage devices, and Embedded systems. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.