Quantum storage of entangled telecom-wavelength photons in an erbium-doped optical fibre

Abstract

The realization of a future quantum Internet requires processing and storing quantum information at local nodes, and interconnecting distant nodes using free-space and fibre-optic links. Quantum memories for light are key elements of such quantum networks. However, to date, neither an atomic quantum memory for non-classical states of light operating at a wavelength compatible with standard telecom fibre infrastructure, nor a fibre-based implementation of a quantum memory has been reported. Here we demonstrate the storage and faithful recall of the state of a 1532 nm wavelength photon, entangled with a 795 nm photon, in an ensemble of cryogenically cooled erbium ions doped into a 20 meter-long silicate fibre using a photon-echo quantum memory protocol. Despite its currently limited efficiency and storage time, our broadband light-matter interface brings fibre-based quantum networks one step closer to reality. Furthermore, it facilitates novel tests of light-matter interaction and collective atomic effects in unconventional materials.

6 pages, 3 Figures + Supplementary Information. The problem with the order of the references is fixed. appears in Nature Photonics (2015)

References in corpus (6)

• The Quantum Internet
• Quantum Computing
• Quantum Storage of Photonic Entanglement in a Crystal
• Approaches for a quantum memory at telecommunication wavelengths
• Investigations of Optical Coherence Properties in an Erbium-doped Silicate Fiber for Quantum State Storage
• Controlled Stark shifts in Er${}^{3+}$-doped crystalline and amorphous waveguides for quantum state storage

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