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In May 2026, University of Vienna physicists reported extending the lifetime of tiny magnetic ripples called magnons from a few hundred nanoseconds to about 18 microseconds, a nearly hundredfold jump.

Why does this matter for future quantum computers?

It could allow a quantum computer the size of a coin using magnons as long-lived carriers of quantum information
Magnons are wave-like disturbances in a magnetic material's magnetization; by using ultra-pure yttrium iron garnet at low temperatures, the team showed magnon lifetime was limited by material purity rather than physics itself, making magnons viable rivals to today's leading superconducting qubits, and because magnons exist inside compact magnetic chips rather than large superconducting circuits, they could enable much smaller quantum devices.

Magnons are wave-like ripples in a magnetic material's magnetization, and because they can carry delicate quantum information, they're explored as a quantum computing building block. Using ultra-pure yttrium iron garnet at low temperatures, the team extended magnon lifetime nearly a hundredfold, showing it had been limited by material impurities, not physics itself.

This doesn't relate to ordinary hard drive storage; magnons are for quantum information processing, not consumer data storage. It also doesn't remove the need for cooling — the experiment relied on low temperatures.

Because magnons exist in compact magnetic chips rather than large superconducting circuits, this raises the possibility of quantum computers shrinking dramatically in size.

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