[Razengan]

> Data degradation of SSDs during cold storage

Why is that? I'd have expected solid-state electronics to last longer at low temperatures.

Or is it precisely that, some near/superconductivity effects causing naughty electrons to escape and wander about?

[khuey]

They mean powered off, not physically cold. Electrons escape the NAND flash over time and if the device is not active it's not refreshing them.

[kingstnap]

It's not super conductivity but instead quantum mechanics.

High capacity hard drives nowadays use heat and strong magnetic fields to write patterns into the platter. It's pretty stable just sitting around doing nothing.

High density multi level NAND involves quantum tunneling a few electrons using a strong electric field into an electrically insulated bit of semiconductor. Over some time the electrons tunnel their way out, but usually this only ends up actually happening if too much writing damaged the insulation.

[Razengan]

Oh, so would actual cold (low temperatures) prevent/reduce that phenomenon?

[PunchyHamster]

Yes

[arcanemachiner]

By cold, I think they mean "powered off", not "low temperature".