Telecom-band photonic quantum memories for networks

The quantum internet of the future will require the capability to generate, store and retrieve entangled photons efficiently and on demand. This project will work on quantum light sources, including quantum dot single photon sources, and nonlinear two-mode squeezed state sources, with a focus on sources that emit at telecommunication wavelengths. This project will also explore ensemble-based atomic memories operating in the telecommunication band which can store and retrieve these quantum states of light. These two components represent the key building blocks of a scalable quantum network.
There are several key challenges that we will address in this project, including matching of the operational wavelengths and bandwidths of the photon sources and memories; extending the lifetime of storage in the quantum memories; reducing excess noise in both systems; and improving the total system end-to-end efficiency. We will also explore other applications of the memory such as acting a coherent filter for improving the quality of the retrieved photons, and as an element of a physical neural network.