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Light storage using gradient Stark echoes

Matthew J. Sellars, A. L. Alexander, Jevon J. Longdell, Gabriel Hetet, Ping Koy Lam

Published Jan 1, 2007• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A quantum memory for light using optical gradient echoes is proposed. The scheme uses only two atomic levels and the recalled pulse propagates forward. In preliminary experiments efficiencies in excess of 10% have been achieved.
DOI
10.1364/sl.2007.stuc3

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Here we show that the photon echo equivalent of an NMR gradient echo is completely efficient if the sample is optically thick, the detunings of the atoms vary linearly along the direction of propagation and the storage time is short compared to the decay rate of the atoms. In this process the only light that interacts with the sample of atoms during the storage and retrieval process is the light that is to be stored and then retrieved, their are no auxiliary beams. The stored and recalled light travel in the same direction and their is no need for the phase matching operation that is present in previous quantum memory proposals using controlled inhomogeneous broadening. This greatly simplifies various possible implementations. We present analytical, numerical and experimental results of this scheme. We report experimental efficiencies of up to 15% and suggest simple realizable improvements to significantly increase the efficiency.
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.
The non-interacting and high-speed nature of light makes it an ideal carrier of information that is essential for transmission of quantum information. Indeed, many proposals and demonstrations of quantum cryptography rely on the use of fibre-optic networks. Construction of a memory that can store light and preserve its quantum properties will be useful in a range of quantum information systems such as secure quantum communication and quantum computation. This is why a quantum memory for light is a remarkable objective. The key to quantum memory is to store the probability amplitude of the possible outcomes of measurement but without measurement. An important criterion for a quantum memory is that the efficiency of the recall must exceed 50%. This is the crucial no-cloning limit for security of information, since it guarantees that nobody can access the information by copying it. This benchmark is important because any kind of deterministic amplification of quantum information is fundamentally impossible. On-demand retrieval of information and ability to controllably manipulate the quantum information are also important for quantum applications. When light is absorbed by atoms, it is actually possible to reverse the absorption process. In our memory system: light is absorbed by an ensemble of atoms and, using careful conditioning and control, we can cause the stored light to be regenerated and released at a later time. This is done by applying a gradient of magnetic field along the atomic ensemble that is the basis for our optical memory. To recall the light we flip the sign of the gradient field. This kind of reversible absorption is called photon echo, hence the name of our scheme: The Gradient Echo Memory (GEM). This simple protocol is used in our experiment and can be applied to a range of different atomic systems. We have extended the GEM protocol and experimentally implemented a memory using three-level atoms. We used an off-the-shelf Rb vapour cell operating above room temperature as the memory medium. In this realisation, we broke the efficiency record with 87% recall of the input light pulse. Moreover, through complete state tomography of coherent states we have demonstrated the ability of our memory to noiselessly store quantum states of light. We have also demonstrated that the memory can store a string of pulses and then recall the pulses ondemand in arbitrary order allowing re-sequencing of the stored information. Furthermore, we have shown that pulses could be time-compressed, time-stretched or split into multiple smaller pulses and selectively recalled in several pieces. This technique enables the construction of an optical random-access memory for quantum information. Moreover, the scheme to manipulate the spectral properties of optical data, stored inside the memory, has been introduced. We have also investigated the possibility of obtaining large nonlinear phase shifts between single photons inside the memory. Such strong interactions can be used for the implementation of universal quantum gates.
A quantum state light-storage, using a virtual magnetic field through the ac Stark effect is proposed to combine the high overall storage efficiency and large bandwidth employing room temperature atomic vapor. In this approach, which was called the ac Stark Gradient Echo Memory (ASGEM), it has been shown the possibility to employ about a nanosecond ac Stark pulse far detuned (about 127 THz) from D1 line of rubidium and create an atomic media with the possibility to store a photon with about a GHz bandwidth with storage and retrieval efficiency of more than 90%. A contour plot of efficiency as a function of gradient field strength and optical depth, based on three-level Maxwell- Bloch equations, simulated for a better understanding of experimental parameter optimization.
The burgeoning fields of quantum computing and quantum key distribution have created a demand for a quantum memory. The gradient echo memory scheme is a quantum memory candidate for light storage that can boast efficiencies approaching unity, as well as the flexibility to work with either two- or three-level atoms. The key to this scheme is the frequency gradient that is placed across the memory. Currently, the three-level implementation uses a Zeeman gradient and warm atoms. In this article we model an alternate gradient-creation mechanism---the ac Stark effect---to provide an improvement in the flexibility of gradient-creation and field-switching times. We propose this scheme in concert with a move to cold atoms ($\ensuremath{\simeq}$111 mK). These temperatures would increase the storage times possible, and the small ensemble volumes would enable large ac Stark shifts with reasonable laser power. We find that memory bandwidths on the order of MHz can be produced with experimentally achievable laser powers and trapping volumes, with high precision in gradient creation and switching times on the order of nanoseconds possible. By looking at the different decoherence mechanisms present in this system, we determine that coherence times on the order of tens of milliseconds are possible, as are delay-bandwidth products of approximately 50 and efficiencies over 9090%90.
We present experimental results demonstrating 87% efficiency for single pulse recall, and storage of up to 20 pulses using a three level gradient echo memory with hot rubidium vapour as the storage medium. We also present results showing pulse resequencing, as well as pulse splitting and spectral manipulation. The decoherence mechanisms affecting the system, in particular scattering due to the control field and how it can be minimised by turning the control field off during storage, are also discussed.