How a laser and cold trapped magnetic waves ✛ ✦

Original: "Brillouin Light Scattering Spectroscopy of Propagating Magnons at Sub-Kelvin Temperatures"
arXiv:2606.25834 · 2026-06-24 · CC BY 4.0 · 1 min
Scientists illuminated magnetic waves in a supercold chamber with a laser and caught their trace.

Magnons are magnetic waves, resembling ripples on a frozen pond. Their collective dance is described by laws discovered by Bose and Einstein. But at room temperature, a thermal storm ruffles the surface, hiding these ripples. To calm the storm, a film with iron ions is cooled nearly to absolute zero — in such refrigerators typically operate superconducting qubits of quantum computers. In the icy silence, a laser beam, focused to a spot thinner than a hair, illuminates the film. Reflecting, it slightly changes color when a magnon races by — like a siren shifting pitch. This frequency shift, described by Planck, is captured by spectroscopy using an interferometer — a mirror sieve that filters out the desired shades. Simulation revealed an unexpected effect: the beam heated a tiny spot to -272°C, melting a microscopic thawed patch. Contrary to fears, it didn't blur the picture but instead highlighted the waves, like an ice hole revealing a hidden current. If the magnetic track is narrowed to nanoscale sizes, thermodynamic analysis promises quantum measurement of single magnons. Such a bridge between microwaves and light will become a key to quantum information, merging quantum optics and computation into ultrasensitive quantum sensors.

For cooling, a mixture of rare isotopes helium-3 and helium-4 is used. At low temperatures they separate like oil and water, and this process absorbs heat, similar to the evaporation of sweat.

\bar{n} = \frac{1}{e^{\hbar\omega/k_B T} - 1}
Average number of magnons in a quantum state with energy ħω at temperature T
Scientists
Daniel GottesmanDavid DiVincenzoGilles BrassardIgnacio CiracJohn PreskillPeter Zoller
Concepts
millikelvin cryogenic microwave measurement spin wave low temperature microwave photon temperature measurement spectroscopy cryogenic sensing liquid xenon liquid scintillator inelastic neutron scattering cryogenic temperature