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

TLDR

Quantum repeaters are essential for long‑distance entanglement distribution, and protocols using quantum memories that eliminate multi‑photon events and employ multimode storage have been shown to greatly increase entanglement‑distribution rates, with solid‑state systems offering enhanced stability and scalability. The study aims to demonstrate storage of deterministic single photons emitted from a quantum dot in a polarization‑maintaining solid‑state memory, including multi‑temporal‑mode operation with 1, 20, and 100 narrow pulses. The experiment successfully stores deterministic single photons from a quantum dot in a polarization‑maintaining solid‑state memory, achieves multi‑temporal‑mode storage of 1, 20, and 100 narrow pulses, eliminates multi‑photon contamination so that at most one photon occupies each pulse, and demonstrates the potential of all‑solid‑state devices for efficient quantum repeaters.

Abstract

Abstract Quantum repeaters are critical components for distributing entanglement over long distances in presence of unavoidable optical losses during transmission. Stimulated by the 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 multiple photons (or multiple 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.