Atomic vapor quantum memory for on-demand semiconductor single photon sources

Abstract

Quantum memories can substantially increase the efficiency of long-distance communications by synchronizing entanglement swapping operations in quantum repeater nodes. To build a quantum memory, electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in atomic vapors can be exploited to coherently store light pulses even at room temperatures. As a quantum source of light, semiconductor quantum dots (QD) offer bright on-demand single photons with high purity.4 Interfacing QDs with atomic vapors has been shown by “slow light” but a quantum memory for QDs is yet to be demonstrated. In this work, we develop an EIT quantum memory hosted in warm cesium vapor. Storage of faint coherent light pulses on the single photon level shows high storage efficiency. A measured bandwidth in the order of 200 MHz makes the memory compatible with the Fourier-limited emission of QDs embedded in micropillar cavities. We show the first attempts to interface the emission from a QD-micropillar with our quantum memory by finetuning the emission wavelength of the emitters to one of the hyperfine transitions in Cs, where the EIT memory takes place. This work sets the base for a hybrid quantum memory based on atomic ensembles for an on-demand semiconductor single-photon source.

Quantum computing with oscillatory quanta

“…Just as the field of telecommunication [37][38][39] has used oscillations for storing and conveying information, the field of quantum information can benefit from oscillatory quanta. 53 The proposed interpretations can have many practical implications for the field of quantum computing. These interpretations imply that it will be possible to achieve linear superposition and quantum entanglement more easily and in more systems than believed earlier.…”