We propose a scheme for parallel spatially multimode quantum memory for light. The scheme is based on a counterpropagating quantum signal wave and a strong classical reference wave as in a classical volume hologram and therefore can be called a quantum volume hologram. The medium for the hologram consists of a spatially extended ensemble of atoms placed in a magnetic field. The write-in and readout of this quantum hologram is as simple as that of its classical counterpart and consists of a single-pass illumination. In addition, we show that the present scheme for a quantum hologram is less sensitive to diffraction and therefore is capable of achieving a higher density of storage of spatial modes as compared to previous proposals. We present a feasibility study and show that experimental implementation is possible with available cold atomic samples. A quantum hologram capable of storing entangled images can become an important ingredient in quantum information processing and quantum imaging.
We propose a scheme for parallel spatially multimode quantum memory for light. The scheme is based on a counterpropagating quantum signal wave and a strong classical reference wave as in a classical volume hologram and therefore can be called a quantum volume hologram. The medium for the hologram consists of a spatially extended ensemble of atoms placed in a magnetic field. The write-in and readout of this quantum hologram is as simple as that of its classical counterpart and consists of a single-pass illumination. In addition, we show that the present scheme for a quantum hologram is less sensitive to diffraction and therefore is capable of achieving a higher density of storage of spatial modes as compared to previous proposals. We present a feasibility study and show that experimental implementation is possible with available cold atomic samples. A quantum hologram capable of storing entangled images can become an important ingredient in quantum information processing and quantum imaging.
We propose a scheme for parallel, spatially multimode quantum memory for light. The scheme is based on the propagation in different directions of a quantum signal wave and strong classical reference wave, like in a classical volume hologram and the previously proposed quantum volume hologram [D. V. Vasilyev et al., Phys. Rev. A 81, 020302(R) (2010)]. The medium for the hologram consists of a spatially extended ensemble of cold spin-polarized atoms. In the absence of the collective spin rotation during the interaction, two passes of light for both storage and retrieval are required, and therefore the present scheme can be called a double-pass quantum volume hologram. The scheme is less sensitive to diffraction and therefore is capable of achieving a higher density of storage of spatial modes as compared to the previously proposed thin quantum hologram [D. V. Vasilyev et al., Phys. Rev. A 77, 020302(R) (2008)], which also requires two passes of light for both storage and retrieval. However, the present scheme allows one to achieve a good memory performance with a lower optical depth of the atomic sample as compared to the quantum volume hologram. A quantum hologram capable of storing entangled images can become an important ingredient in quantum information processing and quantum imaging.
Matter-light quantum interface and quantum memory for light are important ingredients of quantum information protocols, such as quantum networks, distributed quantum computation, etc. [P. Zoller et al., Eur. Phys. J. D 36, 203 (2005)]. In this paper we present a spatially multimode scheme for quantum memory for light, which we call a quantum hologram. Our approach uses a multiatom ensemble which has been shown to be efficient for a single spatial mode quantum memory. Due to the multiatom nature of the ensemble and to the optical parallelism it is capable of storing many spatial modes, a feature critical for the present proposal. A quantum hologram with the fidelity exceeding that of classical hologram will be able to store quantum features of an image, such as multimode superposition and entangled quantum states, something that a standard hologram is unable to achieve.
A spatially multimode scheme of the quantum memory for light is presented that can be considered to be a thin hologram, whose long-lived spin subsystem of a multiatomic ensemble stores image peculiarities, such as the multimode superposition and entangled quantum states, which is unattainable for ordinary holography. In the recording process, the measurement of polarization parameters of the transmitted light wave and the feedback are used for the action on an ensemble of fixed atoms (obtained, for example, by means of the laser cooling). The information capacity of a quantum hologram with a feedback will considerably exceed that of a spatially singlemode quantum memory.
We present a new scheme of quantum memory for optical images (spatially multimode light fields) that allows mapping the quantum state of the signal onto the long-lived coherence of the ground state of an ensemble of stationary atoms or impurity centers. The memory medium is embedded in an optical cavity with degenerate transverse modes, which increases the effective optical thickness of the medium and allows one, in principle, to store information in optically thin atomic layers. Since, in reality, storage and retrieval of limited-duration signals, including signals shorter than the lifetime of the field in the cavity, is of interest, we do not use the low- Q cavity approximation. The influence of losses due to partial reflection of the nonstationary signal field incident on a coupling mirror on the storage efficiency is considered. We used the method of approximate impedance matching, wherein losses due to reflection can be minimized by controlling the coupling parameter of the light field with memory medium in time, thus creating conditions for destructive interference of the signal and local fields on the coupling mirror. The influence of diffraction on the transverse resolution of memory at the writing and readout stages is investigated, and the number of effectively stored transverse spatial modes of the signal is estimated.
Quantum memory is one of key ingredients consisting of quantum networks, therefore storing light at single photon level is an important step for realizing quantum networks. A photon, encoded in a high-dimensional state, can significantly increase the information capacity that a photon can carry. Furthermore, quantum memories with the ability to store multiple optical modes offer advantages in speed and robustness over single mode memories in quantum communication and computation. So far, there is no any report about the storage and retrieval of multiple mode images at single photon level. Here, we give a first experimental demonstration to our best knowledge, that two spatial probe fields at single photon level, each imprinted a real image, can be stored and retrieved with a considerable visibility and similarity through electromagnetically induced transparency in cold atomic ensemble. The accomplishment of multiple modes quantum image memory would move closer towards high dimensional quantum networks.
We study the coherent storage and retrieval of a very short multimode light pulse in an atomic ensemble. We consider a quantum memory process based on the conversion of a signal pulse into a long-lived spin coherence via light matter interaction in an on-resonant $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ -type system. In order to study the writing and reading processes we analytically solve the partial differential equations describing the evolution of the field and of the atomic coherence in time as well as in space. We show how to optimize the process for writing as well as for reading. If the medium length is fixed, for each length, there is an optimal value of the pulse duration. We discuss the information capacity of this memory scheme and we estimate the number of transverse modes that can be stored as a quantum hologram.