Mapping multiple photonic qubits into and out of one solid-state atomic ensemble

2010/02/19 by Imam Usmani, Mikael Afzelius, Hugues de Riedmatten +1 · 206 citations
Computer Science · Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Cluster state #Coherence (philosophical gambling strategy) #Coherence time #Computer science #Photon #Photonic and Optical Devices #Photonics #Physics #Quantum #Quantum Information and Cryptography #Quantum computer #Quantum mechanics #Quantum network #Quantum optics and atomic interactions #Qubit #Scalability #Superconducting quantum computing #quant-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/ncomms1010

published in Nature Communications 1(1), 12 (Nature Portfolio) · 7 pages, 6 figures + Supplementary material

arxiv created 2010/02/19 · openalex publication_date 2010/04/12 · arxiv updated 2015/05/18 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

The future challenge of quantum communication are scalable quantum networks, which require coherent and reversible mapping of photonic qubits onto stationary atomic systems (quantum memories). A crucial requirement for realistic networks is the ability to efficiently store multiple qubits in one quantum memory. Here we demonstrate coherent and reversible mapping of 64 optical modes at the single photon level in the time domain onto one solid-state ensemble of rare-earth ions. Our light-matter interface is based on a high-bandwidth (100 MHz) atomic frequency comb, with a pre-determined storage time of 1 microseconds. We can then encode many qubits in short <10 ns temporal modes (time-bin qubits). We show the good coherence of the mapping by simultaneously storing and analyzing multiple time-bin qubits.

Citations

• Modematching an optical quantum memory
• Teleporting an unknown quantum state via dual classical and Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen channels
• A solid-state light–matter interface at the single-photon level
• Tailoring photonic entanglement in high-dimensional Hilbert spaces
• Storage and retrieval of single photons transmitted between remote quantum memories
• Robust and efficient quantum repeaters with atomic ensembles and linear optics
• A millisecond quantum memory for scalable quantum networks
• Quantum interface between light and atomic ensembles
• Long-distance quantum communication with atomic ensembles and linear optics
• Experimental demonstration of quantum memory for light

Cited by

• Single-photon-level optical storage in a solid-state spin-wave memory
• Scalable time reversal of Raman echo quantum memory and quantum waveform conversion of light pulse
• Optically Addressing Single Rare-Earth Ions in a Nanophotonic Cavity
• Multiplexed on-demand storage of polarization qubits in a crystal