Abstract

Quantum optical memories are devices that store quantum states of light, which can allow for the active synchronization of probabilistic events within large-scale quantum networks. Recent work on quantum memories have seen impressive quantum operation, albeit still suffering from noise on the output mode of the device. Here we demonstrate a noise-free quantum memory for light based on the off-resonant cascaded absorption of photons in a warm vapour of caesium atoms. The memory is characterized by measuring a noise floor of 8 × 10⁻⁶ photons per pulse. We demonstrate genuine quantum operation by storing and recalling on-demand heralded single photons with a heralded second-order autocorrelation function of g⁽²⁾ = 0.028 ± 0.009.

© 2017 Optical Society of America