Physicists extend magnon lifespan to 18 microseconds for mini quantum computers
Updated
Updated · Quantum Zeitgeist · May 4
Physicists extend magnon lifespan to 18 microseconds for mini quantum computers
6 articles · Updated · Quantum Zeitgeist · May 4
At the University of Vienna, the team achieved a hundredfold gain using ultra-pure yttrium iron garnet spheres cooled to 30 millikelvin.
By exciting short-wavelength magnons less affected by surface defects, they showed coherence is limited mainly by material quality rather than fundamental physics.
Published in Science Advances, the work suggests magnons could act as quantum memories, chip-scale links or a quantum bus in coin-sized hybrid quantum computers.
Now that magnons rival leading qubits in lifespan, what is the next hurdle in the quantum computing race?
Can coin-sized quantum devices become reality if they require temperatures colder than deep space?
18 Microseconds and Beyond: Engineering Ultra-Long Magnon Coherence for Quantum Computing
Overview
On May 1, 2026, Professor Andrii Chumak's team achieved a breakthrough by extending magnon lifetimes to 18 microseconds using ultra-pure yttrium iron garnet spheres and cryogenic temperatures of 30 millikelvin. This dramatic increase enables magnons to serve as robust quantum memories, low-loss communication links, and a 'quantum bus' connecting hundreds of qubits. The key to this success lies in advanced materials engineering techniques like high-quality crystal growth, oxygen annealing, and doping to minimize defects. Despite challenges in integrating these materials with superconducting circuits and scaling production, this milestone opens new paths for quantum transducers, magnetometers, and hybrid quantum architectures, marking a major step toward practical quantum technologies.