Will spin-relaxation times in molecular magnets permit quantum information processing?

Using X-band pulsed electron-spin resonance, we report the intrinsic spin-lattice (T-1) and phasecoherence (T-2) relaxation times in molecular nanomagnets for the first time. In Cr7M heterometallic wheels, with M = Ni and Mn, phase-coherence relaxation is dominated by the coupling of the electron spin to protons within the molecule. In deuterated samples T-2 reaches 3 mu s at low temperatures, which is several orders of magnitude longer than the duration of spin manipulations, satisfying a prerequisite for the deployment of molecular nanomagnets in quantum information applications.