An optically pumped cold atomic ensemble for heralded storage of polarization qubits
Résumé
Quantum communication aims at generating and distributing qubits between distant sites, in order to implement quantum information protocols, such as quantum key distribution, quantum teleportation and quantum processing. For many quantum protocols, and especially for quantum repeaters, which make quantum communication over long distances much more efficient, storage of photonic states is necessary and represents a crucial step towards the realisation of a quantum network. An outstanding challenge of quantum communication is to implement quantum memories for photonic qubits, combining long storage time with high fidelity between the input and output states, and good efficiency. Moreover, to be compatible with quantum network applications, such as quantum repeaters, these memories have to enable heralded storage and on-demand read-out. Cold atomic ensembles hold promise for satisfying both these prerequisites, and are therefore a good candidate as storage medium, offering a compromise between different benchmarks. We are setting up an experiment intended to map polarisation qubits onto an optically pumped cold atomic ensemble of rubidium serving as our quantum memory device.