Researchers at the Australian National University (ANU) and the University of Otago have achieved a major breakthrough, succeeding in improving quantum hard drive storage time by a factor of over 100.
It has long been anticipated that a process that can accumulate data in a state of quantum entanglement for the benefit of ultra-secure communications would be discovered.
ANU Research School of Physics and Engineering lead author Manjin Zhong said: "Quantum states are very fragile and normally collapse in milliseconds."
"The fact that we have storage times of hours has the potential to revolutionise how we distribute quantum entanglement in a communication network.
"Our experiment shows that it is now possible to think of extending the range of quantum communication by storing entangled light in separate memories and then transporting them to different parts of the network."
As part of the research, scientists stored quantum data in atoms of the rare earth element europium, then integrated the data into a crystal. Their solid-state technique is claimed to be an alternative to laser beams in optical fibres.
Zhong added: "Our storage times are now so long that it means people need to rethink what is the best way to distribute quantum data."
"Even transporting our crystals at pedestrian speeds we have less loss than laser systems for a given distance."
