2013/01/29 by Nuala Timoney, N. Timoney, I. Usmani +6
Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Computer science #Engineering physics #Materials science #Optical storage #Optics #Optoelectronics #Photon #Photorefractive and Nonlinear Optics #Physics #Quantum Information and Cryptography #Quantum optics and atomic interactions #Solid-state #State (computer science) #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreva.88.022324
published as Phys. Rev. A 88, 022324 Published 20 August 2013
arxiv created 2013/01/29 · openalex publication_date 2013/08/20 · arxiv updated 2014/10/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
A long-lived quantum memory is a firm requirement for implementing a quantum repeater scheme. Recent progress in solid-state rare-earth-ion-doped systems justifies their status as very strong candidates for such systems. Nonetheless an optical memory based on spin-wave storage at the single-photon level has not been shown in such a system to date, which is crucial for achieving the long storage times required for quantum repeaters. In this paper we show that it is possible to execute a complete atomic frequency comb (AFC) scheme, including spin-wave storage, with weak coherent pulses of n=2.5\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi0.6 photons per pulse. We discuss in detail the experimental steps required to obtain this result and demonstrate the coherence of a stored time-bin pulse. We show a noise level of (7.1\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi2.3)\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fi10^\ensuremath-3 photons per mode during storage, and this relatively low noise level paves the way for future quantum optics experiments using spin waves in rare-earth-doped crystals.