Oral: Novel Stoichiometric Rare Earth Material for Quantum Memory Applications

Rare earth ions have long been studied as a candidate for implementing efficient and long-lived quantum memory and in recent times, have been integrated with photonic devices to achieve scalable quantum technologies. However, they are typically introduced as dopants in a solid matrix, which in high concentrations, can lead to increased inhomogeneous broadening. Stoichiometric rare earth materials can offer high optical depths with narrow inhomogeneous broadening. We investigate one such novel Eu³⁺ based stoichiometric material and observe relatively long optical coherence time and spin relaxation lifetime of 2.4(4) μs and 1.9(4) s respectively. To exhibit its potential for quantum memory applications, we demonstrate coherent optical storage using an atomic frequency comb. The two dimensional layered crystal structure of the material allows for the possibility of thin film integration with photonic devices in the future