Freiburg 2024 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 38: Poster IV

Q 38.43: Poster

Mittwoch, 13. März 2024, 17:00–19:00, KG I Foyer

Progress towards single photon EIT light storage at ZEFOZ conditions in Pr:YSO — •Marcel Hain, Tom Güntzel, and Thomas Halfmann — Nonlinear Optics & Quantum Optics (NLQ), Institute of Applied Physics, TU Darmstadt, Germany

Long storage time, large storage efficiency, and large signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) are crucial properties of optical quantum memories. We present single- and few-photon storage based on electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in praseodymium-doped yttrium orthosilicate (Pr:YSO). By employing zero first-order Zeeman shifts (ZEFOZ) and dynamical decoupling based on robust composite pulse sequences we reach storage times on the timescale of seconds. We apply a specifically designed spectral filter implemented in an additional Pr:YSO crystal to separate the weak signal pulse from the strong optical control field. Previously, we reached a SNR=1 for stored weak coherent pulses with 11 photons at a storage time beyond one second [1].

We present now recent progress towards single photon storage by EIT in Pr:YSO. We simultaneously prepare two ensembles to increase the optical depth, thereby enabling higher efficiency. Furthermore, we optimized the optical setup, among other measures using now an ECDL-based laser system (replacing the previously applied OPO system), which helps to improve the spectral filter discrimination by almost two orders of magnitude. This pushes the SNR towards the required regime for single photon storage.

[1] M. Hain, M. Stabel, and T. Halfmann. New J. Phys. 24, 023012 (2022)

Keywords: light storage; photon storage; electromagnetically induced transparency; rare-earth ion-doped crystal; quantum memory