Deterministic Time-Bin Entanglement between a Single Photon and an Atomic Ensemble

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a deterministic method to create high-fidelity entanglement between a single photon and an atomic ensemble using Rydberg blockade, advancing quantum network capabilities.

Contribution

It introduces a novel scheme for deterministic matter-photon entanglement leveraging Rydberg blockade and cyclical retrieval, improving efficiency over probabilistic methods.

Findings

Achieved entanglement fidelity of 87.8%.

Enabled high-probability entanglement between photon and atomic ensemble.

Demonstrated potential for efficient remote quantum memory entanglement.

Abstract

Hybrid matter-photon entanglement is the building block for quantum networks. It is very favorable if the entanglement can be prepared with a high probability. In this paper, we report the deterministic creation of entanglement between an atomic ensemble and a single photon by harnessing Rydberg blockade. We design a scheme that creates entanglement between a single photon's temporal modes and the Rydberg levels that host a collective excitation, using a process of cyclical retrieving and patching. The hybrid entanglement is tested via retrieving the atomic excitation as a second photon and performing correlation measurements, which suggest an entanglement fidelity of 87.8%. Our source of matter-photon entanglement will enable the entangling of remote quantum memories with much higher efficiency.