Interfacing GHz-bandwidth heralded single photons with a warm vapour Raman memory

P. S. Michelberger, T. F. M. Champion, M. R. Sprague, K. T. Kaczmarek, M. Barbieri, X. M. Jin, D. G. England, W. S. Kolthammer, D. J. Saunders, J. Nunn, I. A. Walmsley

Journal
New Journal of Physics
Abstract

Broadband quantum memories, used as temporal multiplexers, are a key component in photonic quantum information processing, as they make repeat-until-success strategies scalable. We demonstrate a prototype system, operating on-demand, by interfacing a warm vapour, high time-bandwidth-product Raman memory with a travelling wave spontaneous parametric down-conversion source. We store single photons and observe a clear influence of the input photon statistics on the retrieved light, which we find currently to be limited by noise. We develop a theoretical model that identifies four-wave mixing as the sole important noise source and point towards practical solutions for noise-free operation.

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