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arXiv:1202.4314 · Journal of Physics B Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics

Atomic frequency comb memory with spin-wave storage in153Eu3 +:Y2SiO5

Nuala Timoney, B Lauritzen, Imam Usmani, Mikael Afzelius, Nicolas Gisin

Published Jun 8, 2012• 39 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

153 Eu 3 + :Y 2 SiO 5 is a very attractive candidate for a long-lived, multimode quantum memory due to the long spin coherence time (∼15 ms), the relatively large hyperfine splitting (100 MHz) and the narrow optical homogeneous linewidth (∼100 Hz). Here we show an atomic frequency comb memory with spin-wave storage in a promising material 153 Eu 3 + :Y 2 SiO 5 , reaching storage times slightly beyond 10 μs. We analyse the efficiency of the storage process and discuss ways of improving it. We also measure the inhomogeneous spin linewidth of 153 Eu 3 + :Y 2 SiO 5 , which we find to be 69 ± 3 kHz. These results represent a further step towards realizing a long-lived, multimode solid-state quantum memory.

DOI
10.1088/0953-4075/45/12/124001

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153 Eu 3 + :Y 2 SiO 5 is a very attractive candidate for a long-lived, multimode quantum memory due to the long spin coherence time (∼15 ms), the relatively large hyperfine splitting (100 MHz) and the narrow optical homogeneous linewidth (∼100 Hz). Here we show an atomic frequency comb memory with spin-wave storage in a promising material 153 Eu 3 + :Y 2 SiO 5 , reaching storage times slightly beyond 10 μs. We analyse the efficiency of the storage process and discuss ways of improving it. We also measure the inhomogeneous spin linewidth of 153 Eu 3 + :Y 2 SiO 5 , which we find to be 69 ± 3 kHz. These results represent a further step towards realizing a long-lived, multimode solid-state quantum memory.
Abstract Optical quantum memories are essential components for realizing the full potential of quantum networks. Among these, rare-earth-doped crystal memories stand out due to their large multimode storage capabilities. To maximize the multimode capacity in the time domain, it is key to simultaneously achieve large memory bandwidth and long optical storage time. Here, we demonstrate an atomic frequency comb optical memory in 171 Yb 3+ :Y 2 SiO 5 , with a memory bandwidth of 250 MHz and a storage time of up to 125 µ s. The efficiency reaches 20% at short storage times, and 5% at 125 µ s. These results were enabled by an optimized optical pumping scheme, guided by numerical modelling. Our approach is specifically designed for future spin-wave storage experiments, with the theoretical bandwidth limit set at 288 MHz by the hyperfine structure of 171 Yb 3+ :Y 2 SiO 5 . Additionally, we introduce an efficient method for synthesizing the optical pumping waveforms required for generating combs with tens of thousands of teeth, as well as a simple yet frequency-agile laser setup for optical pumping across a 10 GHz bandwidth.
Abstract Quantum memories with long storage times are key elements in long-distance quantum networks. The atomic frequency comb (AFC) memory in particular has shown great promise to fulfill this role, having demonstrated multimode capacity and spin–photon quantum correlations. However, the memory storage times have so-far been limited to about 1 ms, realized in a Eu3+ doped Y2SiO5 crystal at zero applied magnetic field. Motivated by studies showing increased spin coherence times under applied magnetic field, we developed an AFC spin-wave memory utilizing a weak 15 mT magnetic field in a specific direction that allows efficient optical and spin manipulation for AFC memory operations. With this field configuration the AFC spin-wave storage time increased to 40 ms using a simple spin-echo sequence. Furthermore, by applying dynamical decoupling techniques the spin-wave coherence time reaches 530 ms, a 300-fold increase with respect to previous AFC spin-wave storage experiments. This result paves the way towards long duration storage of quantum information in solid-state ensemble memories.
Optical quantum memories are essential components for realizing the full potential of quantum networks. Among these, rare-earth-doped crystal memories stand out due to their large multimode storage capabilities. To maximize the multimode capacity in the time domain, it is key to simultaneously achieve large memory bandwidth and long optical storage time. Here, we demonstrate an atomic frequency comb optical memory in 171Yb3+:Y2SiO5 , with a memory bandwidth of 250 MHz and a storage time of up to 125 µs. The efficiency reaches 20% at short storage times, and 5% at 125 µs. These results were enabled by an optimized optical pumping scheme, guided by numerical modelling. Our approach is specifically designed for future spin-wave storage experiments, with the theoretical bandwidth limit set at 288 MHz by the hyperfine structure of 171Yb3+:Y2SiO5 . Additionally, we introduce an efficient method for synthesizing the optical pumping waveforms required for generating combs with tens of thousands of teeth, as well as a simple yet frequency-agile laser setup for optical pumping across a 10 GHz bandwidth.
We report on the experimental demonstration of an optical spin-wave memory, based on the atomic frequency comb (AFC) scheme, where the storage efficiency is strongly enhanced by an optical cavity. The cavity is of low finesse, but operated in an impedance matching regime to achieve high absorption in our intrinsically low-absorbing Eu 3+ :Y 2 SiO 5 crystal. For storage of optical pulses as an optical excitation (AFC echoes), we reach efficiencies of 53% and 28% for 2 μ s and 10 μ s delays, respectively. For a complete AFC spin-wave memory we reach an efficiency of 12%, including spin-wave dephasing, which is a 12-fold increase with respect to previous results in this material. This result is an important step towards the goal of making efficient and long-lived quantum memories based on spin waves, in the context of quantum repeaters and quantum networks.
We present an extension of the atomic frequency comb protocol that utilizes the Stark effect to perform noisefree, on-demand, control.An experimental realization of this protocol was implemented in the Pr 3+ :Y 2 SiO 5 solid-state system, and a recall efficiency of 38% for a 0.8 μs storage time was achieved.Experiments were performed with both bright pulses as well as weak-coherent states, the latter achieving a signal-to-noise ratio of 570 ± 120 using input pulses with an average photon number of ∼0.1.The principal limitation for a longer storage time was found to be the minimum peak width attainable for Pr 3+ :Y 2 SiO 5 .We employ an adaptation of an established atomic frequency comb model to investigate an on-demand, wide-bandwidth, memory based on Eu 3+ :Y 2 SiO 5 .From this, we determine that a storage time as long as 100 μs may be practical even without recourse to spin-wave storage.
We report on the coherent and multi-temporal mode storage of light using the full atomic frequency comb memory scheme. The scheme involves the transfer of optical atomic excitations in Pr 3+ :Y 2 SiO 5 to spin waves in hyperfine levels using strong single-frequency transfer pulses. Using this scheme, a total of five temporal modes are stored and recalled on-demand from the memory. The coherence of the storage and retrieval is characterized using a time-bin interference measurement resulting in visibilities higher than 80%, independent of the storage time. This coherent and multimode spin-wave memory is promising as a quantum memory for light.