Investigation of Optical Memory Techniques

Rare-earth-ion-doped solids are promising materials as light-matter interfaces for quantum applications. Europium doped into an yttrium orthosilicate crystal in particular has interesting coherence properties and a suitable ground-state energy-level structure for a quantum memory for light. In this paper we report on spectroscopic investigations of this material from the perspective of implementing an atomic frequency comb (AFC)-type quantum memory with spin-wave storage. For this goal we determine the order of the hyperfine levels in the ${}^{7}\phantom{\rule{-0.16em}{0ex}}{F}_{0}$ ground state and ${}^{5}\phantom{\rule{-0.16em}{0ex}}{D}_{0}$ excited state, and we measure the relative strengths of the optical transitions between these levels. We also apply spectral hole burning techniques in order to prepare the system as a well-defined $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ system, as required for further quantum memory experiments. Furthermore, we measure the optical Rabi frequency on one of the strongest hyperfine transitions, a crucial experimental parameter for the AFC protocol. From this we also obtain a value for the transition dipole moment which is consistent with that obtained from absorption measurements.Rare-earth-ion-doped solids are promising materials as light-matter interfaces for quantum applications. Europium doped into an yttrium orthosilicate crystal in particular has interesting coherence properties and a suitable ground-state energy-level structure for a quantum memory for light. In this paper we report on spectroscopic investigations of this material from the perspective of implementing an atomic frequency comb (AFC)-type quantum memory with spin-wave storage. For this goal we determine the order of the hyperfine levels in the ${}^{7}\phantom{\rule{-0.16em}{0ex}}{F}_{0}$ ground state and ${}^{5}\phantom{\rule{-0.16em}{0ex}}{D}_{0}$ excited state, and we measure the relative strengths of the optical transitions between these levels. We also apply spectral hole burning techniques in order to prepare the system as a well-defined $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ system, as required for further quantum memory experiments. Furthermore, we measure the optical Rabi frequency on one of the strongest hyperfine transitions, a crucial experimental parameter for the AFC protocol. From this we also obtain a value for the transition dipole moment which is consistent with that obtained from absorption measurements.

Physical Review BMar 14, 201280 citations

An Experimental, High Density Optical Memory

James Vinton Burt

Jan 1, 19721 citation

Raman-excited spin coherences for high-temperature spectral hole-burning memories

Philip Hemmer, M. S. Shahriar, Alexey V. Turukhin

Summary form only given.Optical spectral hole-burning has demonstrated the ability to achieve high-capacity, high-speed data storage. Unfortunately, widespread application of this technique has been limited by the requirement for low temperature operation. To circumvent this problem, we have been investigating the possibility of using Raman-excited spin coherences to store and recall optical data. The motivation is that optical Raman excitation allows storage densities and response times characteristic of optical hole-burning memories, but because it is based on long-lived spin coherences, it can maintain these characteristics at much higher operating temperatures. For the initial experiments we chose to use N-V color centers in diamond as the Raman hole-burning material because it is comparatively well studied.Summary form only given.Optical spectral hole-burning has demonstrated the ability to achieve high-capacity, high-speed data storage. Unfortunately, widespread application of this technique has been limited by the requirement for low temperature operation. To circumvent this problem, we have been investigating the possibility of using Raman-excited spin coherences to store and recall optical data. The motivation is that optical Raman excitation allows storage densities and response times characteristic of optical hole-burning memories, but because it is based on long-lived spin coherences, it can maintain these characteristics at much higher operating temperatures. For the initial experiments we chose to use N-V color centers in diamond as the Raman hole-burning material because it is comparatively well studied.

Conference on Lasers and Electro-OpticsJan 1, 20000 citations

{}^{7}\phantom{\rule{-0.16em}{0ex}}{F}_{0}

ground state and

{}^{5}\phantom{\rule{-0.16em}{0ex}}{D}_{0}

excited state, and we measure the relative strengths of the optical transitions between these levels. We also apply spectral hole burning techniques in order to prepare the system as a well-defined $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ system, as required for further quantum memory experiments. Furthermore, we measure the optical Rabi frequency on one of the strongest hyperfine transitions, a crucial experimental parameter for the AFC protocol. From this we also obtain a value for the transition dipole moment which is consistent with that obtained from absorption measurements.