Breakthrough in Magnon Research Paves the Way for Mini Quantum Computers

Magnons are tiny waves in magnetisation and ideal building blocks for hybrid quantum systems and quantum metrology. However, their previously too-short lifetime of at most a few hundred nanoseconds has been a hurdle. An international team of physicists led by Andrii Chumak from the University of Vienna has now succeeded in extending this lifetime a hundredfold to up to 18 microseconds - paving the way for a quantum computer the size of a 1-cent coin. The scientists have also made the crucial discovery that it is not a fundamental law of physics that governs the lifetime of magnons, but rather a question of materials. The study has recently been published in the prestigious journal Science Advances.