Storage of 1650 modes of single photons at telecom wavelength

Abstract

To advance the full potential of quantum networks one should be able to distribute quantum resources over long distances at appreciable rates. As a consequence, all components in the networks need to have large multimode capacity to manipulate photonic quantum states. Towards this end, a multimode photonic quantum memory, especially one operating at telecom wavelength, remains a key challenge. Here we demonstrate a spectro-temporally multiplexed quantum memory at 1532 nm. Multimode quantum storage of telecom-band heralded single photons is realized by employing the atomic frequency comb protocol in a 10-m-long cryogenically cooled erbium doped silica fibre. The multiplexing encompasses five spectral channels - each 10 GHz wide - and in each of these up to 330 temporal modes, resulting in the simultaneous storage of 1650 modes of single photons. Our demonstrations open doors for high-rate quantum networks, which are essential for future quantum internet.

Hertz-rate metropolitan quantum teleportation

“…To extend the teleportation distance, the combination of low-Earth-orbit satellite links 25,26 and quantum repeater architecture 48,49 may provide a prospective avenue for the long distances beyond 5000 km or so 50 . It is also noted that the signal photons in our system, centered at 1531.87 nm, both in terms of wavelength and spectral width, are compatible with quantum memory in erbium-doped materials [51][52][53] . This, in conjunction with entanglement swapping, constitutes an elementary link of a quantum network, which has been realized recently between two solid states quantum memories [54][55][56] .…”

Quantum storage of entangled photons at telecom wavelengths in a crystal

“…With these experimental improvements, we anticipate 167 Er 3+ ions and integrated quantum photonics to become a versatile platform for highperformance quantum memory, enabling the realization of large-scale quantum networks. We note that during the completion of this project, related work has shown the storage of heralded single photons in Erdoped fiber for up to 230 ns 87 . Twofold coincidence visibility (V), the second-order correlation function (g 2 si ð0Þ), and the expectation value of the entanglement witness (〈W〉) for storage time tM = 1936 ns.…”

Optoelectronic Devices for Quantum Information Processing

“…In addition to the optoelectronic devices described above, we have also conducted abundant research on quantum memory [13,84,85], optomechanical system [86][87][88], and nano-opto-electro-mechanical system [89][90][91], including experimental studies and topic reviews.…”

“…Furthermore, we have demonstrated both high-bandwidth and multiplexed quantum memory for C-band photons by utilizing the atomic frequency comb (AFC) quantum memory protocol in erbium-doped silica-fiber (EDF) [85]. Figure 14 shows the experimental setup in this demonstration.…”