The discovery by a team of scientists from Australian National University and Otago's Dr Jevon Longdell has been hailed as a breakthrough in the field of quantum computing - a cutting edge form of computing which harnesses the power of atoms and molecules.
Quantum computers, which are still in their infancy, have the potential to perform certain calculations many times faster than today's computers by taking advantage of ''quantum bits''.
The team's discovery, published in the journal Nature this week, involved extending the storage time for a prototype quantum super-computer hard drive by more than one hundred times.
Previously the fragile nature of the way quantum information was stored meant information was lost in milliseconds, but the team's method, using a rare earth element called europium embedded in a crystal, meant it could be stored for up to six hours.
Dr Longdell, who is part of Otago's Dodd Walls Centre for Photonic and Quantum Technologies, said the discovery could provide a cutting edge ''unbreakable'' method for keeping top-secret information from falling into the wrong hands.
Information encrypted using ''quantum cryptography'' was completely secure because the nature of quantum mechanics meant it was always possible to tell if someone had gained access to the information.
The method was already used in banking and for the transmission of results in a Swiss general election, but a limitation was that quantum information could be transmitted only about 100km along optical fibre before the information was lost.
Being able to store the information meant quantum information could be distributed ''literally in a box sent via the post''.
''Our goal is to extend this storage time out past a day. Once we reach this target we believe it will be possible to physically distribute [quantum information] between any two points on the globe.''
''What really changes the landscape about our work is that everyone assumed that by far the best way to transport these quantum states would be as light along optical fibre.''
Despite being sent in the post, the encryption would still be secure.
''If someone tried to look what was in the crystal while it was in transit we would notice because they can't measure the quantum states without disturbing them.''
In the long-term, the team's discovery would also be helpful for scientists hoping to build super-fast quantum computers able to solve difficult problems which current computers cannot solve.
This was because long-term storage was needed for advanced quantum computing to work.
''You need to do an awful lot of hard things to make a quantum computer work and I guess we have done one of them.''
