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Updated: Jun 14, 2026

Gradient Echo Quantum Memory in Warm Atomic Vapor
Published on: November 11, 2013
Creation of long-term coherent optical memory via controlled nonlinear interactions in Bose-Einstein condensates
Rui Zhang1, Sean R Garner, Lene Vestergaard Hau
1Department of Physics and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
Abstract:
A Bose-Einstein condensate confined in an optical dipole trap is used to generate long-term coherent memory for light, and storage times of more than 1 s are observed. Phase coherence of the condensate as well as controlled manipulations of elastic and inelastic atomic scattering processes are utilized to increase the storage fidelity by several orders of magnitude over previous schemes. The results have important applications for creation of long-distance quantum networks and for generation of entangled states of light and matter.
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