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Photonics Research

Efficient coherent optical storage of multi-dimensional states in cold atom ensembles

Xin Yang, Jinwen Wang, Shuwei Qiu, Yuchen Gu, Jianyi Xu, Xinji Zeng, Mingtao Cao, Yun Chen, Chengyuan Wang, Dong Wei, Fuli Li, Hong Gao

Published Apr 10, 2025• 5 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Photonic multi-dimensional storage capabilities and the high storage efficiency of multiplexed quantum storage devices are critical metrics that directly determine the entanglement distribution efficiency of quantum networks. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate a high-efficiency storage for multi-dimensional photonic states in path, polarization, and orbital angular momentum (with vector beams serving as the photonic dimensional carriers of polarization and orbital angular momentum) in laser-cooled Rb 87 atom ensembles with cigar shapes. We achieve path-multiplexed storage of two-channel vector beams at the single-photon level, with storage efficiency exceeding 74% for first-order vector beams and 72% for second-order vector beams. Additionally, the storage fidelity surpasses 89% for both types. Furthermore, we achieve a storage time of approximately 7 μs for two-channel vector beams, and the spatial structure and phase information are preserved during storage through performed projection measurements. The results confirm that our system has the capability for optical storage in photon polarization and orbital angular momentum, as well as in a multi-dimensional photon path. These results show significant potential for advancing large-scale repeater-based quantum networks and distributed quantum computing.

DOI
10.1364/prj.559202

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Photonic multi-dimensional storage capabilities and the high storage efficiency of multiplexed quantum storage devices are critical metrics that directly determine the entanglement distribution efficiency of quantum networks. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate a high-efficiency storage for multi-dimensional photonic states in path, polarization, and orbital angular momentum (with vector beams serving as the photonic dimensional carriers of polarization and orbital angular momentum) in laser-cooled Rb 87 atom ensembles with cigar shapes. We achieve path-multiplexed storage of two-channel vector beams at the single-photon level, with storage efficiency exceeding 74% for first-order vector beams and 72% for second-order vector beams. Additionally, the storage fidelity surpasses 89% for both types. Furthermore, we achieve a storage time of approximately 7 μs for two-channel vector beams, and the spatial structure and phase information are preserved during storage through performed projection measurements. The results confirm that our system has the capability for optical storage in photon polarization and orbital angular momentum, as well as in a multi-dimensional photon path. These results show significant potential for advancing large-scale repeater-based quantum networks and distributed quantum computing.
Quantum memory plays a pivotal role in the construction of quantum repeaters, which are essential devices for establishing long-distance quantum communications and large-scale quantum networks. To boost information capacity and signal processing speed, the implementation of high-efficiency multiplexed quantum memories is essential for the development of multiplexed quantum repeaters. We experimentally demonstrate an efficient multiplexed quantum memory by consolidating photons carrying high-dimensional orbital angular momentum (OAM) states from four individual channels into an elongated cold Rb87 atomic ensemble. Benefiting from the cold atomic ensemble with high optical depth, we obtain a storage efficiency exceeding 70% for the four-channel multiplexed beam. The storage fidelities surpass 83% when all channels are operated in a four-dimensional Hilbert space, which is far above the classical benchmark and validates the quantum functionality of our memory system. The achieved high-efficiency OAM multiplexed quantum memory opens up an avenue for efficient quantum information processing over multiple parallel channels, promising significant advances in the field of quantum communication and networking.
Abstract Quantum memory plays a pivotal role in the construction of quantum repeaters, which are essential devices for establishing long-distance quantum communications and large-scale quantum networks. To boost information capacity and signal processing speed, the implementation of high-efficiency multiplexed quantum memories is essential for the development of multiplexed quantum repeaters. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate an efficient multiplexed quantum memory by consolidating photons carrying high-dimensional orbital angular momentum (OAM) state from 4 individual channels into an elongated cold 87Rb atomic ensemble. Benefiting from the cold atomic ensemble with high optical depth, we obtain a storage efficiency exceeding 70% for the 4-channel multiplexed beam. The storage fidelities surpass 83% when all channels are operated in a 4-dimensional Hilbert space, which is far above the classical benchmark and validates the quantum functionality of our memory system. The achieved high-efficiency OAM multiplexed quantum memory opens up an avenue for efficient quantum information processing over multiple parallel channels, promising significant advances in the field of quantum communication and networking.
Constructing a quantum memory for a photonic entanglement is vital for realizing quantum communication and network. Because of the inherent infinite dimension of orbital angular momentum (OAM), the photon's OAM has the potential for encoding a photon in a high-dimensional space, enabling the realization of high channel capacity communication. Photons entangled in orthogonal polarizations or optical paths had been stored in a different system, but there have been no reports on the storage of a photon pair entangled in OAM space. Here, we report the first experimental realization of storing an entangled OAM state through the Raman protocol in a cold atomic ensemble. We reconstruct the density matrix of an OAM entangled state with a fidelity of 90.3%±0.8% and obtain the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt inequality parameter S of 2.41±0.06 after a programed storage time. All results clearly show the preservation of entanglement during the storage.
High-performance multiplexed quantum storage can reduce the number of storage units required for quantum communication and enhance quantum information processing. In this paper, we demonstrate the storage of orbital angular momentum (OAM)-multiplexed beams in rubidium vapor and retrieve the optical modes using an OAM mode splitter that integrates a Sagnac loop with two Dove prisms. We verified the feasibility of the experimental setup using a single OAM mode and found that OAM modes with different orders can be separated into distinct paths through the OAM mode splitter after storage, achieving a mode extinction ratio of over 85% at a storage duration of 500 ns. Furthermore, we achieved storing a multiplexed beam containing two OAM modes and demonstrating the effectiveness of this system for extracting multiplexed beams. We believe that the proposed scheme has the potential to advance the development of multimode quantum storage devices.
Abstract The spatial modes of light, carrying a quantized amount of orbital angular momentum (OAM), is one of the excellent candidates that provides access to high-dimensional quantum states, which essentially makes it promising towards building high-dimensional quantum networks. Quantum memory with efficiency above 50% is an essential condition for beating the no-cloning limit or in the one-way quantum computation. However, up till now, the highest storage efficiencies achieved for OAM states are below 30%, which is an obstacle towards practical applications. In this paper, we report the storage and retrieval of photonic qubits encoded with OAM state in an elongated cold rubidium atomic ensemble, achieving a storage efficiency around 65% with an average conditional fidelity above 98%. Our work constitutes an efficient node that is needed towards high dimensional and large scale quantum networks.
Quantum memories have been realized in different physical systems, such as atomic ensembles or solid systems. To date, all quantum memories have realized the storage and retrieval of photons encoded using only a two-dimensional space spanned, for example, by the orthogonal polarization states, and hence can only store a quantum bit. Using electromagnetically induced transparency in a cold atomic ensemble, we report the experimental realization of a quantum memory storing a photon encoded in a three-dimensional space spanned by orbital angular momentum (OAM) states. We experimentally reconstruct the storage process density matrix with a fidelity of 85.385.3%\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1.8%85.3 using a 4-f imaging system. We also realize storage of two special photonic qutrit states as examples. Toward storing a higher-dimensional state encoded in OAM space, the efficiency difference between different OAM states should be considered according to the experimental results. The capability to store high-dimensional quantum states with high fidelity is a key step towards building high-dimensional quantum networks.