Abstract
Quantum memories for the storage and retrieval of quantum information are extremely sensitive to environmental influences, which limits their storage times. The ground states of atoms and ions are potential candidates for quantum memories, but although coherence times of the order of a few seconds for atoms1,2 and hundreds of seconds for ions3,4,5 have been demonstrated, long-lived storage and retrieval of single quantum excitations remains an outstanding challenge. Here, we report a quantum memory using the magnetically insensitive clock transition in atomic rubidium confined in a one-dimensional optical lattice. We observe quantum memory lifetimes exceeding 6 ms, more than two orders of magnitude longer than previously reported6. This advance is an important step towards the realization of long-distance quantum networks and the controlled production of complex entangled states of matter and light.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to the full article PDF.
USD 39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Harber, D. M., Lewandowski, H. J., McGuirk, J. M. & Cornell, E. A. Effect of cold collisions on spin coherence and resonance shifts in a magnetically trapped ultracold gas. Phys. Rev. A 66, 053616 (2002).
Treutlein, P. et al. Coherence in microchip traps. Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 203005 (2004).
Bollinger, J. J. et al. A 303-MHz frequency standard based on trapped Be+ ions. IEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas. 40, 126–128 (1991).
Langer, C. et al. Long-lived qubit memory using atomic ions. Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 060502 (2005).
Haffner, H. et al. Robust entanglement. Appl. Phys. B 81, 151–153 (2005).
Matsukevich, D. N. et al. Deterministic single photons via conditional quantum evolution. Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 013601 (2006).
Aspelmeyer, M. et al. Long-distance free-space distribution of quantum entanglement. Science 301, 621–623 (2003).
Briegel, H.-J., Duer, W., Cirac, J. I. & Zoller, P. Quantum repeaters: The role of imperfect local operations in quantum communication. Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 5932–5935 (1998).
Duan, L.-M., Lukin, M., Cirac, J. I. & Zoller, P. Long-distance quantum communication with atomic ensembles and linear optics. Nature 414, 413–418 (2001).
Collins, O. A., Jenkins, S. D., Kuzmich, A. & Kennedy, T. A. B. Multiplexed memory-insensitive quantum repeaters. Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 060502 (2007).
Jiang, L., Taylor, J. M. & Lukin, M. D. Fast and robust approach to long-distance quantum communication with atomic ensembles. Phys. Rev. A 76, 012301 (2007).
Sangouard, N. et al. Robust and efficient quantum repeaters with atomic ensembles and linear optics. Phys. Rev. A 77, 062301 (2008).
Duan, L.-M. Entangling many atomic ensembles through laser manipulation. Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 170402 (2002).
Matsukevich, D. N. & Kuzmich, A. Quantum state transfer between matter and light. Science 306, 663–666 (2004).
Hijlkema, M. et al. A single-photon server with just one atom. Nature Phys. 3, 253–255 (2007).
Chanelière, T. et al. Storage and retrieval of single photons transmitted between remote quantum memories. Nature 438, 833–836 (2005).
Matsukevich, D. N. et al. Observation of dark state polariton collapses and revivals. Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 033601 (2006).
Jenkins, S. D. et al. Theory of dark-state polariton collapses and revivals. Phys. Rev. A 73, 021803(R) (2006).
Matsukevich, D. N. et al. Entanglement of remote atomic qubits. Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 030405 (2006).
Chen, Y. A. et al. Memory-built-in quantum teleportation with photonic and atomic qubits. Nature Phys. 4, 103–107 (2007).
Simon, J., Tanji, H., Ghosh, S. & Vuletic, V. Single-photon bus connecting spin-wave quantum memories. Nature Phys. 3, 765–769 (2007).
Laurat, J. et al. Heralded entanglement between atomic ensembles: Preparation, decoherence, and scaling. Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 180504 (2007).
Choi, K. S., Deng, H., Laurat, J. & Kimble, H. J. Mapping photonic entanglement into and out of a quantum memory. Nature 452, 67–74 (2008).
Liu, C., Dutton, Z., Behroozi, C. H. & Hau, L. V. Observation of coherent optical information storage in an atomic medium using halted light pulses. Nature 409, 490–493 (2001).
Phillips, D. F. et al. Storage of light in atomic vapor. Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 783–786 (2001).
Julsgaard, B. et al. Experimental demonstration of quantum memory for light. Nature 432, 482–486 (2004).
Longdell, J. J., Fraval, E., Sellars, M. J. & Manson, N. B. Stopped light with storage times greater than one second using electromagnetically induced transparency in a solid. Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 063601 (2005).
Fleischhauer, M. & Lukin, M. D. Dark-state polaritons in electromagnetically induced transparency. Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 5094–5097 (2000).
Jenkins, S. D. Theory of Light-Atomic Ensemble Interactions. PhD thesis, Georgia Inst. Technology (2006).
Grangier, P., Roger, G. & Aspect, A. Experimental evidence for a photon anticorrelation effect on a beam splitter: A new light on single-photon interferences. Europhys. Lett. 1, 173–179 (1986).
Kuhr, S. et al. Analysis of dephasing mechanisms in a standing-wave dipole trap. Phys. Rev. A 72, 023406 (2005).
Acknowledgements
We thank P. Ahmadi, T. Chanelière, M. S. Chapman and S.-Y. Lan for discussions. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation, the A. P. Sloan Foundation and the Office of Naval Research.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhao, R., Dudin, Y., Jenkins, S. et al. Long-lived quantum memory. Nature Phys 5, 100–104 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys1152
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys1152
This article is cited by
-
Lifetime reductions and read-out oscillations due to imperfect initial level preparations of atoms in a long-lived DLCZ-like quantum memory
Applied Physics B (2022)
-
Experimental demonstration of memory-enhanced scaling for entanglement connection of quantum repeater segments
Nature Photonics (2021)
-
Massively-multiplexed generation of Bell-type entanglement using a quantum memory
Communications Physics (2021)
-
Long-lived and multiplexed atom-photon entanglement interface with feed-forward-controlled readouts
Communications Physics (2021)
-
High-performance Raman quantum memory with optimal control in room temperature atoms
Nature Communications (2019)
