New paper in Optics Letters:

Reducing noise in a Raman quantum memory

Philip J. Bustard, Duncan G. England, Khabat Heshami, Connor Kupchak, and Benjamin J. Sussman

Optics Letters Vol. 41, Issue 21, pp. 5055-5058 (2016)

https://doi.org/10.1364/OL.41.005055

Optical quantum memories are an important component of future optical and hybrid quantum technologies. Raman schemes are strong candidates for use with ultrashort optical pulses due to their broad bandwidth; however, the elimination of deleterious four-wave mixing noise from Raman memories is critical for practical applications. Here, we demonstrate a quantum memory using the rotational states of hydrogen molecules at room temperature. Polarization selection rules prohibit four-wave mixing, allowing the storage and retrieval of attenuated coherent states with a mean photon number 0.9 and a pulse duration 175 fs. The 1/𝑒 memory lifetime is 85.5 ps, demonstrating a time-bandwidth product of ≈480 in a memory that is well suited for use with broadband heralded down-conversion and fiber-based photon sources.