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arXiv:1301.0705 · New Journal of Physics

An efficient quantum memory based on two-level atoms

Ivan Iakoupov, Anders Søndberg Sørensen

Published Aug 13, 2013• 17 citations

Abstract

We propose a method to implement a quantum memory for light based on ensembles of two-level atoms. Our protocol is based on controlled reversible inhomogeneous broadening (CRIB), where an external field first dephases the atomic polarization and thereby stores an incoming light pulse into collective states of the atomic ensemble, and later a reversal of the applied field leads to a rephasing of the atomic polarization and a reemission of the light. As opposed to previous proposals for CRIB-based quantum memories, we propose only applying the broadening for a short period after most of the pulse has already been absorbed by the ensemble. We show that with this procedure there exist certain modes of the incoming light field that can be stored with an efficiency approaching 100% in the limit of high optical depth and long coherence time of the atoms. These results demonstrate that it is possible to operate an efficient quantum memory without any optical control fields.

DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/15/8/085012

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This paper presents a simple quantum memory method for efficient storage and retrieve of light. The technique is based on the principle of controlled reversible inhomogeneous broadening for which the information of the quantum state light is imprinted in a two-level atoms ensemble and recalled by flipping the external nonuniform electric field. In present work, the induced Stark shift varied linearly with position, and a numerical analysis for this protocol has been studied. It shows that the storage efficiency can nearly reach 100% with a large enough optical depth, and the optimal broadening for a given pulse width is also analyzed.

Here, we propose a solid-state quantum memory that does not require spectral holeburning, instead using strong rephasing pulses like traditional photon-echo techniques. The memory uses external broadening fields to reduce the optical depth and so switch off the collective atom-light interaction when desired. The proposed memory should allow operation with reasonable efficiency in a much broader range of material systems, for instance Er

{}^{3+}

doped crystals which have a transition at 1.5 $\ensuremath{\mu}\text{m}$. We present analytic theory supported by numerical calculations and initial experiments.

We present a simple quantum memory scheme that allows for the storage of a light field in an ensemble of two-level atoms. The technique is analogous to the NMR gradient echo for which the imprinting and recalling of the input field are performed by controlling a linearly varying broadening. Our protocol is perfectly efficient in the limit of high optical depths and the output pulse is emitted in the forward direction. We provide a numerical analysis of the protocol together with an experiment performed in a solid state system. In close agreement with our model, the experiment shows a total efficiency of up to 15%, and a recall efficiency of 26%. We suggest simple realizable improvements for the experiment to surpass the no-cloning limit.