SAMOP 2023 – scientific programme
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A: Fachverband Atomphysik
A 19: Ultra-cold Atoms, Ions and BEC III (joint session A/Q)
A 19.3: Talk
Wednesday, March 8, 2023, 15:00–15:15, F428
Proposal for a long-lived quantum memory using matter-wave optics with Bose-Einstein condensates in microgravity — •Elisa Da Ros1, Simon Kanthak1, Erhan Sağlamyürek2,3, Mustafa Gündoğan1, and Markus Krutzik1,4 — 1Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany — 2University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada — 3University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada — 4Ferdinand-Braun-Institut (FBH), Berlin, Germany
Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) are a promising platform for implementing optical quantum memories [1]. Most of the decoherence mechanisms that affect the lifetime of BEC-based memories can be compensated through conventional methods, but, ultimately, the density-dependent interatomic collisions set the upper limit on the lifetime to around 100~ms timescales. Here [2] we propose a new protocol that utilizes matter-wave optics techniques to minimize such density-dependent effects. Optical atom lenses first collimate and then refocus an initially expanding BEC. This allows performing the memory write-in and read-out operations at high density while decreasing the collision rate during the storage period. We show an expected memory lifetime in a microgravity environment of up to 100 s, which is ultimately limited by the background vacuum quality.
This work is supported by the German Space Agency (DLR) with funds provided by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWK) under grant number No. 50WM2055.
[1] E. Sağlamyürek, et al., Nat. Photon. 12, 774-782 (2018).
[2] E. Da Ros, et al., arXiv:2210.13859 (2022).