Storage of telecom wavelength heralded single photons in a fiber cavity quantum memory

Abstract

We demonstrate the storage and retrieval of heralded single photons in a fiber-based cavity quantum memory. The photons are stored, and retrieved, from the memory using quantum frequency conversion which switches the photon into, and out of, resonance with the cavity. The photons, generated in the telecom O-band with a bandwidth of 81 GHz, are retrieved from the memory with a 1/e lifetime of 1.64 µs, or 32.8 cavity round trips. We show that non-classical photon statistics remain for 70 round trips. The internal memory efficiency after 0.5 µs of storage is 10.9 ± 0.5%; a coupling efficiency of 60% into the memory cavity yields a total efficiency of 6.0 ± 0.3%. These results mark a crucial step forward in the development of fiber-based quantum memories, and high-bandwidth memories operating at telecom wavelengths, with applications to photon source multiplexing and fiber-based quantum networking.