Optical investigations of coherence and relaxation dynamics of a thulium-doped yttrium gallium garnet crystal at sub-kelvin temperatures for optical quantum memory
Antariksha Das (Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft, TU Delft - QuTech Advanced Research Centre, TU Delft - QID/Taminiau Lab, Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology)
Mohsen Falamarzi Askarani (TU Delft - QID/Tittel Lab, Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft, TU Delft - QuTech Advanced Research Centre)
J.H. Davidson (TU Delft - QuTech Advanced Research Centre, Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft, TU Delft - QID/Tittel Lab)
Neil Sinclair (Harvard University, California Institute of Technology)
J.A. Slater (Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft, TU Delft - BUS/Quantum Delft, TU Delft - QuTech Advanced Research Centre)
S. Marzban (TU Delft - QID/Tittel Lab, TU Delft - QuTech Advanced Research Centre, Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft)
D. Oblak (University of Calgary)
Charles W. Thiel (Montana State University - Bozeman)
Rufus L. Cone (Montana State University - Bozeman)
W. Tittel (Constructor University, TU Delft - QID/Tittel Lab, Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft, TU Delft - QuTech Advanced Research Centre, University of Geneva)
More Info
expand_more
Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.
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.
help_outline