Towards an efficient atomic frequency comb quantum memory

In English We present an efficient photon-echo experiment based on atomic frequency combs Phys. Rev. A 79 (2009) 052329. Echoes containing an energy of up to 35% of that of the input pulse are observed in a Pr3+ -doped Y2SiO5 crystal. This material allows for the precise spectral holeburning needed to make a sharp and highly absorbing comb structure. We compare our results with a simple theoretical model with satisfactory agreement. Our results show that atomic frequency combs has the potential for high-efficiency storage of single photons as required in future long-distance communication based on quantum repeaters. (c) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.