A new bridge between time crystals and external systems
Researchers at Aalto University’s Department of Applied Physics have achieved a landmark breakthrough: they connected a time crystal to an external system for the first time. By turning the time crystal into an optomechanical system, the team demonstrated potential pathways to vastly improve sensors and memory components for quantum computers.
The study, led by Jere Mäkinen, shows that time crystals can interact with nearby mechanical devices in a controlled way. This opens the door to embedding time-crystal dynamics into practical quantum architectures, where precision timing and reduced energy loss are critical for scaling up quantum machines.
A brief history of time crystals
Time crystals trace their idea to Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek, who proposed that quantum systems could self-organize in time as well as in space. A time crystal would sit in its lowest energy state yet exhibit perpetual motion-like activity without continuous external energy input. The concept sparked curiosity about whether such motion could persist in real systems, and experiments confirmed their existence in 2016 in controlled quantum setups.
How the experiment worked
The Aalto team used radio waves to pump magnons into a Helium-3 superfluid cooled to near absolute zero. When the radio pumping ceased, the magnons formed a time crystal that continued its motion for an extended period—up to 108 cycles, lasting minutes before fading. During this decay, the crystal established a connection with a nearby mechanical oscillator. The characteristics of this link depended on the oscillator’s frequency and amplitude, revealing a tunable, optomechanical interaction between the time crystal and the external system.
As Mäkinen explains, “We showed that changes in the time crystal’s frequency are completely analogous to optomechanical phenomena widely known in physics. These are the same effects that enable gravitational wave detectors to function with exquisite sensitivity.” In other words, the observed coupling mirrors well-understood optomechanical behavior, which can be harnessed to reduce energy loss and push the coupled system closer to the quantum regime.
Implications for quantum computing
The immediate value lies in how time crystals could become powerful building blocks for quantum computers. Their longevity—lasting orders of magnitude longer than many quantum states currently used—offers a path to more reliable quantum memory and more robust interconnects between qubits. In practical terms, a time-crystal-enabled memory could retain information with less decoherence, a perennial challenge in quantum information processing.
Beyond memory, the coupling to an external optomechanical system suggests the creation of highly stable frequency references. Time crystals could function as frequency combs, providing precise, evenly spaced signals that are essential for high-sensitivity measurements. This capability is particularly valuable for quantum sensors, where improved frequency stability translates into better detection thresholds, higher precision timing, and more accurate calibration of quantum devices.
What comes next for quantum technology
While the research is preliminary, the results point to practical routes for integrating time crystals into quantum hardware. The ultimate goal is to optimize energy efficiency and coherence protection in quantum processors, potentially enabling more powerful quantum simulations, optimization problems, and secure communication protocols. The prospect of using time crystals to power memory systems could also reduce the resource burden on quantum data storage, helping to scale up quantum architectures from laboratory setups to real-world applications.
Looking to the horizon
Time crystals have moved from theoretical novelty to a tangible platform with real engineering potential. By bridging time-domain dynamics with familiar optomechanical phenomena, researchers are crafting a toolkit that could redefine quantum computing hardware. As experiments refine the coupling and controllability of these exotic states, the path toward ultra-precise sensors and more capable quantum memories becomes clearer—and faster.
