Storage and retrieval of single photons transmitted between remote quantum memories

2005/11/02 by T. Chaneliere, T. Chanelière, Dzmitry Matsukevich +7 · 25 citations
Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Open quantum system #Photon #Physics #Quantum #Quantum Information and Cryptography #Quantum computer #Quantum entanglement #Quantum information #Quantum information science #Quantum mechanics #Quantum network #Quantum optics and atomic interactions #Quantum state #Quantum technology #Qubit #quant-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/nature04315

published as Nature, 438, 833 (2005) · 15 pages, 6 figures

arxiv created 2005/11/02 · openalex publication_date 2005/12/01 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

An elementary quantum network operation involves storing a qubit state in an atomic quantum memory node, and then retrieving and transporting the information through a single photon excitation to a remote quantum memory node for further storage or analysis. Implementations of quantum network operations are thus conditioned on the ability to realize such matter-to-light and/or light-to-matter quantum state mappings. Here, we report generation, transmission, storage and retrieval of single quanta using two remote atomic ensembles. A single photon is generated from a cold atomic ensemble at Site A via the protocol of Duan, Lukin, Cirac, and Zoller (DLCZ) [Nature v.414, 413 (2001)] and is directed to Site B through a 100 meter long optical fiber. The photon is converted into a single collective excitation via the dark-state polariton approach of Fleischhauer and Lukin [Phys. Rev. Lett. v.84, 5094 (2000)]. After a programmable storage time the atomic excitation is converted back into a single photon. This is demonstrated experimentally, for a storage time of 500 nanoseconds, by measurement of an anticorrelation parameter a. Storage times exceeding ten microseconds are observed by intensity cross-correlation measurements. The length of the storage period is two orders of magnitude longer than the time to achieve conversion between photonic and atomic quanta. The controlled transfer of single quanta between remote quantum memories constitutes an important step towards distributed quantum networks.

Citations

• Experimental quantum teleportation
• Experimental Evidence for a Photon Anticorrelation Effect on a Beam Splitter: A New Light on Single-Photon Interferences
• Observation of Dark State Polariton Collapses and Revivals
• Quantum cryptography based on Bell’s theorem
• Experimental distinction between the quantum and classical field-theoretic predictions for the photoelectric effect
• Theory of dark-state polariton collapses and revivals
• Experimental Realization of Teleporting an Unknown Pure Quantum State via Dual Classical and Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Channels
• Long-distance quantum communication with atomic ensembles and linear optics
• Experimental demonstration of quantum memory for light
• Characterization of the nonclassical nature of conditionally prepared single photons
• Electromagnetically Induced Transparency

Cited by

• Entanglement of Remote Atomic Qubits
• Theory of dark-state polariton collapses and revivals
• Observation of Dark State Polariton Collapses and Revivals
• Spectral-hole memory for light at the single-photon level
• Colloquium: The Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox: From concepts to applications
• Low-frequency vacuum squeezing via polarization self-rotation in Rb vapor
• Fidelity of an Optical Memory Based on Stimulated Photon Echoes
• Quantum Interference of Electromagnetic Fields from Remote Quantum Memories
• Mesoscopic coherence in light scattering from cold, optically dense and disordered atomic systems
• High efficiency photonic storage of single photons in cold atoms
• Efficient atomic quantum memory for photonic qubits in cavity QED
• Verifying multipartite mode entanglement of W states
• Decoherence of electromagnetically induced transparency in atomic vapor
• Highly efficient source for indistinguishable single photons of controlled shape
• Electro-Optic Modulation of Single Photons
• A solid-state light–matter interface at the single-photon level
• State preparation by optical pumping in erbium-doped solids using stimulated emission and spin mixing
• Quantum memories: emerging applications and recent advances
• Mapping multiple photonic qubits into and out of one solid-state atomic ensemble
• Frequency-filtered storage of parametric fluorescence with electromagnetically induced transparency
• Interfacing Collective Atomic Excitations and Single Photons
• Conditional squeezing of an atomic alignment
• Collective generation of quantum states of light by entangled atoms
• Entanglement percolation in quantum networks
• Mapping photonic entanglement into and out of a quantum memory