Prospective applications of optical quantum memories

TL;DR

Optical quantum memories are versatile systems crucial for advancing quantum communication, computation, and metrology, with recent experimental progress expanding their potential applications.

Contribution

This paper reviews recent experimental developments and prospective applications of optical quantum memories, emphasizing their growing importance in quantum information processing.

Findings

Optical quantum memories are essential for quantum repeaters and computation.

Recent experiments demonstrate progress in quantum memory performance.

Potential applications include quantum metrology and device-independent quantum protocols.

Abstract

An optical quantum memory can be broadly defined as a system capable of storing a useful quantum state through interaction with light at optical frequencies. During the last decade, intense research was devoted to their development, mostly with the aim of fulfilling the requirements of their first two applications, namely quantum repeaters and linear-optical quantum computation. A better understanding of those requirements then motivated several different experimental approaches. Along the way, other exciting applications emerged, such as as quantum metrology, single-photon detection, tests of the foundations of quantum physics, device-independent quantum information processing and nonlinear processing of quantum information. Here we review several prospective applications of optical quantum memories with a focus on recent experimental achievements pertaining to these applications. This review highlights that optical quantum memories have become essential for the development of optical quantum information processing.