Superradiance-Mediated Photon Storage for Broadband Quantum Memory

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a superradiance-based broadband quantum memory using cold rubidium atoms, enabling fast, high-bandwidth storage of photonic signals suitable for quantum communication and computing.

Contribution

It introduces a superradiance memory protocol that achieves high bandwidth storage in cold atom ensembles, surpassing previous methods in speed and efficiency.

Findings

Superradiance enables photon storage faster than atomic natural lifetime.

The protocol achieves the highest bandwidth among similar systems.

Simulations confirm suitability for short, broadband pulses.

Abstract

Superradiance, characterized by the collective, coherent emission of light from an excited ensemble of emitters, generates photonic signals on timescales faster than the natural lifetime of an individual atom. The rapid exchange of coherence between atomic emitters and photonic fields in the superradiant regime enables a fast, broadband quantum memory. We demonstrate this superradiance memory mechanism in an ensemble of cold rubidium atoms and verify that this protocol is suitable for pulses on timescales shorter than the atoms' natural lifetime. Our simulations show that the superradiance memory protocol yields the highest bandwidth storage among protocols in the same system. These high-bandwidth quantum memories provide unique opportunities for fast processing of optical and microwave photonic signals, with applications in large-scale quantum communication and quantum computing technologies.