Sarah Thomas (University of Oxford)
Quantum memories for future quantum networks
The future of quantum technologies is likely to be based on quantum networks, which enable secure long-distance quantum communication, and allow smaller quantum processing units to be connected to create powerful quantum computing systems. A key component of future quantum networks is a quantum memory – a device that enables on-demand storage and retrieval of quantum states of light. Quantum memories are necessary for entanglement distribution across large-scale quantum networks and for synchronizing probabilistic operations for photonic quantum computation. I will discuss quantum memories based on light-matter interactions in atomic ensembles. I will present recent work interfacing quantum memories with quantum dot single-photon sources, and novel methods to optimise their efficiency using light-matter interference.