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Cavity-Enhanced Spin-Wave Solid-State Quantum Memory

Leo Feldmann1,*, Sören Wengerowsky1,†, Antariksha Das1, Stefano Duranti1, Jonathan Hänni1, Samuele Grandi1, and Hugues de Riedmatten1,2,‡

  • *Contact author: leo.feldmann@icfo.eu
  • †Contact author: soeren.wengerowsky@icfo.eu
  • ‡Contact author: hugues.deriedmatten@icfo.eu
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 120801 – Published 17 September, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/8l9k-12k2

Abstract

We report on the realization of an efficient solid-state spin-wave quantum memory, with on-demand readout, using the full atomic frequency comb (AFC) scheme in a Pr3+:Y2SiO5 crystal embedded in an impedance-matched cavity. We demonstrate operation at the single-photon level by storing weak coherent states with an efficiency up to (40±2)% and a signal-to-noise ratio of 14 for an input photon number of 0.42 photons per pulse. We also investigated the enhancement of the incoherent noise due to the impedance-matched cavity and characterized the quantum memory performance, showing a two-way transfer from excited to spin states and back of up to 83%. Finally, we confirmed the quantum nature of our memory by storing nonclassical states of light, i.e., a heralded single photon from a nondegenerate spontaneous parametric down-conversion source, and achieved nonclassical correlations between the heralding and the stored-and-retrieved photon. These results demonstrate that impedance-matched AFC spin-wave quantum memories with on-demand readout can be used for experiments involving the storage of photonic quantum states. They also open the door to solid-state on-demand quantum memories with very high efficiencies, serving as a key resource for quantum networks and quantum repeaters.

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 120801– Published 17 September, 2025
  • Received 29 May 2025
  • Accepted 6 August 2025
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