Optically addressable nuclear spins in a solid with a six-hour coherence time

Manjin Zhong; Morgan P. Hedges; Rose L. Ahlefeldt; John G. Bartholomew; Sarah E. Beavan; Sven M. Wittig; Jevon J. Longdell; Matthew J. Sellars

doi:10.1038/nature14025

Optically addressable nuclear spins in a solid with a six-hour coherence time

Manjin Zhong^*, Morgan P. Hedges, Rose L. Ahlefeldt, John G. Bartholomew, Sarah E. Beavan, Sven M. Wittig, Jevon J. Longdell, Matthew J. Sellars

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

544 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Space-like separation of entangled quantum states is a central concept in fundamental investigations of quantum mechanics and in quantum communication applications. Optical approaches are ubiquitous in the distribution of entanglement because entangled photons are easy to generate and transmit. However, extending this direct distribution beyond a range of a few hundred kilometres^1,2 to a worldwide network is prohibited by losses associated with scattering, diffraction and absorption during transmission. A proposal to overcome this range limitation is the quantum repeater protocol^3,4, which involves the distribution of entangled pairs of optical modes among many quantum memories stationed along the transmission channel⁵. To be effective, the memories must store the quantum information encoded on the optical modes for times that are long compared to the direct optical transmission time of the channel. Here we measure a decoherence rate of 8 × 10^-5 per second over 100 milliseconds, which is the time required for light transmission on a global scale. The measurements were performed on a ground-state hyperfine transition of europium ion dopants in yttrium orthosilicate (¹⁵¹ Eu³⁺:Y₂ SiO₅) using optically detected nuclear magnetic resonance techniques. The observed decoherence rate is at least an order of magnitude lower than that of any other system suitable for an optical quantum memory. Furthermore, by employing dynamic decoupling, a coherence time of 370 ± 60 minutes was achieved at 2 kelvin. It has been almost universally assumed that light is the best long-distance carrier for quantum information. However, the coherence time observed here is long enough that nuclear spins travelling at 9 kilometres per hour in a crystal would have a lower decoherence with distance than light in an optical fibre. This enables some very early approaches^6,7 to entanglement distribution to be revisited, in particular those in which the spins are transported rather than the light.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	177-180
Number of pages	4
Journal	Nature
Volume	517
Issue number	7533
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14025
Publication status	Published - 8 Jan 2015

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title = "Optically addressable nuclear spins in a solid with a six-hour coherence time",

abstract = "Space-like separation of entangled quantum states is a central concept in fundamental investigations of quantum mechanics and in quantum communication applications. Optical approaches are ubiquitous in the distribution of entanglement because entangled photons are easy to generate and transmit. However, extending this direct distribution beyond a range of a few hundred kilometres1,2 to a worldwide network is prohibited by losses associated with scattering, diffraction and absorption during transmission. A proposal to overcome this range limitation is the quantum repeater protocol3,4, which involves the distribution of entangled pairs of optical modes among many quantum memories stationed along the transmission channel5. To be effective, the memories must store the quantum information encoded on the optical modes for times that are long compared to the direct optical transmission time of the channel. Here we measure a decoherence rate of 8 × 10-5 per second over 100 milliseconds, which is the time required for light transmission on a global scale. The measurements were performed on a ground-state hyperfine transition of europium ion dopants in yttrium orthosilicate (151 Eu3+:Y2 SiO5) using optically detected nuclear magnetic resonance techniques. The observed decoherence rate is at least an order of magnitude lower than that of any other system suitable for an optical quantum memory. Furthermore, by employing dynamic decoupling, a coherence time of 370 ± 60 minutes was achieved at 2 kelvin. It has been almost universally assumed that light is the best long-distance carrier for quantum information. However, the coherence time observed here is long enough that nuclear spins travelling at 9 kilometres per hour in a crystal would have a lower decoherence with distance than light in an optical fibre. This enables some very early approaches6,7 to entanglement distribution to be revisited, in particular those in which the spins are transported rather than the light.",

author = "Manjin Zhong and Hedges, {Morgan P.} and Ahlefeldt, {Rose L.} and Bartholomew, {John G.} and Beavan, {Sarah E.} and Wittig, {Sven M.} and Longdell, {Jevon J.} and Sellars, {Matthew J.}",

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AU - Hedges, Morgan P.

AU - Ahlefeldt, Rose L.

AU - Bartholomew, John G.

AU - Beavan, Sarah E.

AU - Wittig, Sven M.

AU - Longdell, Jevon J.

AU - Sellars, Matthew J.

PY - 2015/1/8

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N2 - Space-like separation of entangled quantum states is a central concept in fundamental investigations of quantum mechanics and in quantum communication applications. Optical approaches are ubiquitous in the distribution of entanglement because entangled photons are easy to generate and transmit. However, extending this direct distribution beyond a range of a few hundred kilometres1,2 to a worldwide network is prohibited by losses associated with scattering, diffraction and absorption during transmission. A proposal to overcome this range limitation is the quantum repeater protocol3,4, which involves the distribution of entangled pairs of optical modes among many quantum memories stationed along the transmission channel5. To be effective, the memories must store the quantum information encoded on the optical modes for times that are long compared to the direct optical transmission time of the channel. Here we measure a decoherence rate of 8 × 10-5 per second over 100 milliseconds, which is the time required for light transmission on a global scale. The measurements were performed on a ground-state hyperfine transition of europium ion dopants in yttrium orthosilicate (151 Eu3+:Y2 SiO5) using optically detected nuclear magnetic resonance techniques. The observed decoherence rate is at least an order of magnitude lower than that of any other system suitable for an optical quantum memory. Furthermore, by employing dynamic decoupling, a coherence time of 370 ± 60 minutes was achieved at 2 kelvin. It has been almost universally assumed that light is the best long-distance carrier for quantum information. However, the coherence time observed here is long enough that nuclear spins travelling at 9 kilometres per hour in a crystal would have a lower decoherence with distance than light in an optical fibre. This enables some very early approaches6,7 to entanglement distribution to be revisited, in particular those in which the spins are transported rather than the light.

AB - Space-like separation of entangled quantum states is a central concept in fundamental investigations of quantum mechanics and in quantum communication applications. Optical approaches are ubiquitous in the distribution of entanglement because entangled photons are easy to generate and transmit. However, extending this direct distribution beyond a range of a few hundred kilometres1,2 to a worldwide network is prohibited by losses associated with scattering, diffraction and absorption during transmission. A proposal to overcome this range limitation is the quantum repeater protocol3,4, which involves the distribution of entangled pairs of optical modes among many quantum memories stationed along the transmission channel5. To be effective, the memories must store the quantum information encoded on the optical modes for times that are long compared to the direct optical transmission time of the channel. Here we measure a decoherence rate of 8 × 10-5 per second over 100 milliseconds, which is the time required for light transmission on a global scale. The measurements were performed on a ground-state hyperfine transition of europium ion dopants in yttrium orthosilicate (151 Eu3+:Y2 SiO5) using optically detected nuclear magnetic resonance techniques. The observed decoherence rate is at least an order of magnitude lower than that of any other system suitable for an optical quantum memory. Furthermore, by employing dynamic decoupling, a coherence time of 370 ± 60 minutes was achieved at 2 kelvin. It has been almost universally assumed that light is the best long-distance carrier for quantum information. However, the coherence time observed here is long enough that nuclear spins travelling at 9 kilometres per hour in a crystal would have a lower decoherence with distance than light in an optical fibre. This enables some very early approaches6,7 to entanglement distribution to be revisited, in particular those in which the spins are transported rather than the light.

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Optically addressable nuclear spins in a solid with a six-hour coherence time

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