No Arabic abstract
In Ref. [Katz et al., arXiv:2007.08770 (2020)], we present a mechanism and optimal procedures for mapping the quantum state of photons onto an optically inaccessible macroscopic state of noble-gas spins, which functions as a quantum memory. Here we introduce and analyze a detailed model of the memory operation. We derive the equations of motion for storage and retrieval of non-classical light and design optimal control strategies. The detailed model accounts for quantum noise and for thermal atomic motion, including the effects of optical mode structure and imperfect anti-relaxation wall coating. We conclude with proposals of practical experimental configurations of the memory, with lifetimes ranging from seconds to hours.
Nuclear spins of noble gases can maintain coherence for hours at ambient conditions owing to their extraordinary isolation by the enclosing, complete electronic shells. This isolation, however, impedes the ability to manipulate and control them by optical means or by physical coupling to other spin gases. Here we experimentally achieve strong coherent coupling between noble-gas spins and the optically-accessible spins of alkali-metal vapor. Stochastic spin-exchange collisions, underlying the coupling, accumulate to a coherent periodic exchange of spin excitations between the two gases. We obtain a coupling rate 10 times higher than the decay rate, observe the resultant avoided crossing in the spectral response of the spins, and demonstrate the external control over the coupling by magnetic fields. These results open a route for efficient and rapid interfacing with noble-gas spins for applications in quantum sensing and information.
Ultracold atoms in optical lattices are an important platform for quantum information science, lending itself naturally to quantum simulation of many-body physics and providing a possible path towards a scalable quantum computer. To realize its full potential, atoms at individual lattice sites must be accessible to quantum control and measurement. This challenge has so far been met with a combination of high-resolution microscopes and resonance addressing that have enabled both site-resolved imaging and spin-flips. Here we show that methods borrowed from the field of inhomogeneous control can greatly increase the performance of resonance addressing in optical lattices, allowing us to target arbitrary single-qubit gates on desired sites, with minimal crosstalk to neighboring sites and greatly improved robustness against uncertainty in the lattice position. We further demonstrate the simultaneous implementation of different gates at adjacent sites with a single global control waveform. Coherence is verified through two-pulse Ramsey interrogation, and randomized benchmarking is used to measure an average gate fidelity of ~95%. Our control-based approach to reduce crosstalk and increase robustness is broadly applicable in optical lattices irrespective of geometry, and may be useful also on other platforms for quantum information processing, such as ion traps and nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond.
We study the minimum time to implement an arbitrary two-qubit gate in two heteronuclear spins systems. We give a systematic characterization of two-qubit gates based on the invariants of local equivalence. The quantum gates are classified into four classes, and for each class the analytical formula of the minimum time to implement the quantum gates is explicitly presented. For given quantum gates, by calculating the corresponding invariants one easily obtains the classes to which the quantum gates belong. In particular, we analyze the effect of global phases on the minimum time to implement the gate. Our results present complete solutions to the optimal time problem in implementing an arbitrary two-qubit gate in two heteronuclear spins systems. Detailed examples are given to typical two-qubit gates with or without global phases.
Quantum memories with high efficiency and fidelity are essential for long-distance quantum communication and information processing. Techniques have been developed for quantum memories based on atomic ensembles. The atomic memories relying on the atom-light resonant interaction usually suffer from the limitations of narrow bandwidth. The far-off-resonant Raman process has been considered a potential candidate for use in atomic memories with large bandwidths and high speeds. However, to date, the low memory efficiency remains an unsolved bottleneck. Here, we demonstrate a high-performance atomic Raman memory in Rb87 vapour with the development of an optimal control technique. A memory efficiency of 82.6% for 10-ns optical pulses is achieved and is the highest realized to date in atomic Raman memories. In particular, an unconditional fidelity of up to 98.0%, significantly exceeding the no-cloning limit, is obtained with the tomography reconstruction for a single-photon level coherent input. Our work marks an important advance of atomic Raman memory towards practical applications in quantum information processing.
We investigated the preservation of information encoded into the relative phase and amplitudes of optical pulses during storage and retrieval in an optical memory based on stimulated photon echo. By interfering photon echoes produced in a Ti-indiffused single-mode Er-doped LiNbO$_{3}$ waveguiding structure at telecom wavelength, we found that decoherence in the atomic medium translates only as losses (and not as degradation) of information, as long as the data pulse series is short compared to the atomic decoherence time. The experimentally measured value of the visibility for interfering echoes is close to 100 %. In addition to the expected three-pulse photon-echo interferences we also observed interference due to a four-pulse photon echo. Our findings are of particular interest for future long-distance quantum communication protocols, which rely on the reversible transfer of quantum states between light and atoms with high fidelity.