Optical investigations of coherence and relaxation dynamics of a thulium-doped yttrium gallium garnet crystal at sub-kelvin temperatures for optical quantum memory
A. Das (Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft, TU Delft - QID/Taminiau Lab, Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, TU Delft - QuTech Advanced Research Centre)
M. Falamarzi Askarani (TU Delft - QID/Tittel Lab, Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft, TU Delft - QuTech Advanced Research Centre)
J.H. Davidson (TU Delft - QID/Tittel Lab, Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft, TU Delft - QuTech Advanced Research Centre)
Neil Sinclair (California Institute of Technology, Harvard University)
J.A. Slater (TU Delft - QuTech Advanced Research Centre, Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft, TU Delft - BUS/Quantum Delft)
S. Marzban (TU Delft - QID/Tittel Lab, TU Delft - QuTech Advanced Research Centre, Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft)
Daniel Oblak (University of Calgary)
Charles W. Thiel (Montana State University - Bozeman)
Rufus L. Cone (Montana State University - Bozeman)
W. Tittel (Constructor University, University of Geneva, TU Delft - QID/Tittel Lab, Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft, TU Delft - QuTech Advanced Research Centre)
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Abstract
Rare-earth ion-doped crystals are of great interest for quantum memories, a central component in future quantum repeaters. To assess the promise of 1 % Tm
3+-doped yttrium gallium garnet (Tm:YGG), we report measurements of optical coherence and energy-level lifetimes of its
3H 6 ↔ 3 H
4 transition at a temperature of around 500 mK and various magnetic fields. Using spectral hole burning (SHB), we find hyperfine ground-level (Zeeman level) lifetimes of several minutes at magnetic fields of less than 1000 G. We also measure coherence time exceeding one millisecond using two-pulse photon echoes. Three-pulse photon echo and SHB measurements reveal that due to spectral diffusion, the effective coherence time reduces to a few µs over a timescale of around two hundred seconds. Finally, temporal and frequency-multiplexed storage of optical pulses using the atomic frequency comb protocol is demonstrated. Our results suggest Tm:YGG to be promising for multiplexed photonic quantum memory for quantum repeaters.
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