Storage of RF photons in minimal conditions

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a method to store RF pulses coherently in quartz using dynamic coupling control, achieving notable efficiency and storage time, with implications for quantum information memory integration.

Contribution

It introduces a minimal-condition RF pulse storage technique in quartz with optimized pulse shaping and demonstrates coherence, advancing quantum memory research.

Findings

Achieved 26% storage efficiency

Stored RF pulses for 209 microseconds

Demonstrated coherence of the stored signal

Abstract

We investigate the minimal conditions to store coherently a RF pulse in a material medium. We choose a commercial quartz as memory support because it is a widely available component with a high Q-factor. Pulse storage is obtained by varying dynamically the light-matter coupling with an analog switch. This parametric driving of the quartz dynamics can be alternatively interpreted as a stopped light experiment. We obtain an efficiency of 26%, a storage time of 209$\mu$s and a time-to-bandwidth product of 98 by optimizing the pulse temporal shape. The coherent character of the storage is demonstrated. Our goal is to connect different types of memories in the RF and optical domain for quantum information processing. Our motivation is essentially fundamental.