Storage of multiple single-photon pulses emitted from a quantum dot in a solid-state quantum memory

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the storage of single photons from a quantum dot in a solid-state quantum memory, including multi-temporal modes, advancing the development of scalable quantum repeaters.

Contribution

It introduces a stable, scalable solid-state system capable of storing multiple single-photon pulses, enhancing quantum repeater protocols.

Findings

Successful storage of single photons from a quantum dot.

Demonstration of multi-temporal-mode quantum memory with 1, 20, and 100 pulses.

Elimination of multi-photon contamination in stored pulses.

Abstract

Quantum repeaters are critical components for distributing entanglement over long distances in presence of unavoidable optical losses during transmission. Stimulated by Duan-Lukin-Cirac-Zoller protocol, many improved quantum-repeater protocols based on quantum memories have been proposed, which commonly focus on the entanglement-distribution rate. Among these protocols, the elimination of multi-photons (multi-photon-pairs) and the use of multimode quantum memory are demonstrated to have the ability to greatly improve the entanglement-distribution rate. Here, we demonstrate the storage of deterministic single photons emitted from a quantum dot in a polarization-maintaining solid-state quantum memory; in addition, multi-temporal-mode memory with $1$, $20$ and $100$ narrow single-photon pulses is also demonstrated. Multi-photons are eliminated, and only one photon at most is contained in each pulse. Moreover, the solid-state properties of both sub-systems make this configuration more stable and easier to be scalable. Our work will be helpful in the construction of efficient quantum repeaters based on all-solid-state devices