Coherent control in the ground and optically excited state of an ensemble of erbium dopants

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates coherent control of erbium dopant ensembles in both ground and excited states using a split-ring microwave resonator, advancing quantum memory and sensing technologies in fiber-optic communication wavelengths.

Contribution

It introduces a novel microwave control technique for erbium dopants in both electronic states, enabling improved quantum memory and sensing applications.

Findings

Successful coherent control in ground state

Control demonstrated in optically excited state

Potential for new quantum memory protocols

Abstract

Ensembles of erbium dopants can realize quantum memories and frequency converters that operate in the minimal-loss wavelength band of fiber optical communication. Their operation requires the initialization, coherent control and readout of the electronic spin state. In this work, we use a split-ring microwave resonator to demonstrate such control in both the ground and optically excited state. The presented techniques can also be applied to other combinations of dopant and host, and may facilitate the development of new quantum memory protocols and sensing schemes.