Roberto Mottola

Scalability presents a central platform challenge for the components of current quantum network implementations that can be addressed by microfabrication techniques. We demonstrate a high-bandwidth optical memory using a warm alkali atom ensemble in a microfabricated vapor cell compatible with wafer-scale fabrication. By applying an external tesla-order magnetic field, we explore a novel ground-state quantum memory scheme in the hyperfine Paschen-Back regime, where individual optical transitions can be addressed in a Doppler-broadened medium. Working on the ${}^{87}\mathrm{Rb}$ ${\mathrm{D}}_2$ line, where deterministic quantum dot single-photon sources are available, we demonstrate bandwidth-matching with hundreds of megahertz broad light pulses keeping such sources in mind. For a storage time of 80 ns we measure an end-to-end efficiency of ${\eta }_{e2e}^{80\mathrm{ns}}=3.12(17)\%$, corresponding to an internal efficiency of ${\eta }_{\mathrm{int}}^{0\mathrm{ns}}=24(3)\%$, while achieving a signal-to-noise ratio of $\mathrm{SNR}=7.9(8)$ with coherent pulses at the single-photon level.

We report spectroscopy experiments of rubidium vapor in a high magnetic field under conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and optical pumping. The 1.1-T static magnetic field decouples nuclear and electronic spins and shifts each magnetic state via the Zeeman effect, allowing us to resolve individual optical transitions of the $D_2$ line in a Doppler-broadened medium. By varying the control laser power driving one leg of a spectrally isolated $\mathrm{\Lambda }$ system we tune the vapor from the EIT regime to conditions of Autler-Townes line splitting. The resulting spectra conform to simple three-level models demonstrating the effective simplification of the energetic structure. Further, we quantify the viability of state preparation via optical pumping on nuclear spin-forbidden transitions. We conclude that the “cleanliness” of this system greatly enhances the capabilities of quantum control in hot vapor, offering advantages in a broad variety of quantum applications plagued by spurious light-matter interaction processes, such as atomic quantum memories for light.

We report spectroscopy experiments of rubidium vapor in a high magnetic field under conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and optical pumping. The 1.1 T static magnetic field decouples nuclear and electronic spins and shifts each magnetic state via the Zeeman effect, allowing us to resolve individual optical transitions of the D$_2$ line in a Doppler-broadened medium. By varying the control laser power driving one leg of a spectrally isolated $Λ$ system we tune the vapor from the EIT regime to conditions of Autler-Townes line splitting. The resulting spectra conform to simple three-level models demonstrating the effective simplification of the energetic structure. Further, we quantify the viability of state preparation via optical pumping on nuclear spin-forbidden transitions. We conclude that the ``cleanliness'' of this system greatly enhances the capabilities of quantum control in hot vapor, offering advantages in a broad variety of quantum applications plagued by spurious light-matter interaction processes, such as atomic quantum memories for light.

Interfaced single-photon sources and quantum memories for photons together form a foundational component of quantum technology. Achieving compatibility between heterogeneous, state-of-the-art devices is a long-standing challenge. We built and successfully interfaced a heralded single-photon source based on cavity-enhanced spontaneous parametric down-conversion in periodically poled potassium titanyl phosphate and a matched memory based on electromagnetically induced transparency in warm ${}^{87}\mathrm{Rb}$ vapor. The bandwidth of the photons emitted by the source is $370\mathrm{MHz}$, placing its speed in the technologically relevant regime while remaining well within the acceptance bandwidth of the memory. Simultaneously, the experimental complexity is kept low, with all components operating at or above room temperature. Read-out noise of the memory is considerably reduced by exploiting polarization selection rules in the hyperfine structure of spin-polarized atoms. For the first time, we demonstrate single-photon storage and retrieval in a ground-state vapor cell memory, with $g_{c,\mathrm{ret}}^{(2)}=0.177(23)$ demonstrating the single-photon character of the retrieved light. Our platform of single-photon source and atomic memory is attractive for future experiments on room-temperature quantum networks operating at high bandwidth.