Converting Quantum Bits: Physicists Transfer Information Between Matter and Light; First Step for Quantum Networking

Dzmitry Matsukevich and Alex Kuzmich at the Georgia Institute of Technology have taken a significant step toward the development of quantum communications systems by successfully transferring quantum information from two different groups of atoms onto a single photon.

The work, reported in the October 22 issue of the journal Science, represents a "building block" that could lead to development of large-scale quantum networks. The work is the first to demonstrate transfer of quantum information from matter to light.

A magneto-optical trap is used to provide an optically thick atomic cloud of a billion rubidium atoms for the experiment. The classical coherent laser pulses used in the generation and verification procedures define the two distinct pencil-shape components of the atomic ensemble that form the memory qubit, L and R.

For more detail, please see Science Vol 306 page 663,and also news feature in the same issue of Science by Charles Seife, "Researchers build quantum info bank by writing on the clouds", p. 593. Also, see Georgia Tech press release.

(Source: Tech News Release)