Long-lived quantum memories with rare-earth ions doped in crystals
Abstract
Quantum memory is a core enabling device for large-scale quantum networks, serving as the fundamental building block for quantum repeaters and transportable quantum memories. Among various physical platforms, rare-earth-ion-doped crystals stand out as one of the most promising solid-state candidates for long-lived photonic quantum memories, owing to their exceptionally long spin coherence time and their compatibility with integration. In this review, we first introduce the physical mechanisms underlying long-lived spin coherence in rare-earth systems, with particular emphasis on the zero-first-order-Zeeman transition and dynamical decoupling techniques. We then review the experimental progress in this field, highlighting three distinct lifetimes--the spin coherence time, the light storage time, and the quantum storage time--and covering experiments that have achieved hour-scale spin coherence, minute- to hour-scale light storage, and minute-scale single-photon-level quantum storage. Finally, we discuss the remaining challenges that hinder the realization of practical long-lived quantum memories, explore potential strategies to overcome these obstacles, and outline the prospects for their future applications in quantum networks.
Versions
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BibTeX
@misc{sa2026longlived,
title = {{Long-lived quantum memories with rare-earth ions doped in crystals}},
author = {Yu-Yu Sa and Pei-Xi Liu and Zong-Quan Zhou and Chuan-Feng Li},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2611.04526},
eprint = {2611.04526},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.04526},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Long-lived quantum memories with rare-earth ions doped in crystals
AU - Yu-Yu Sa
AU - Pei-Xi Liu
AU - Zong-Quan Zhou
AU - Chuan-Feng Li
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/03
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2611.04526
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.04526
AB - Quantum memory is a core enabling device for large-scale quantum networks, serving as the fundamental building block for quantum repeaters and transportable quantum memories. Among various physical platforms, rare-earth-ion-doped crystals stand out as one of the most promising solid-state candidates for long-lived photonic quantum memories, owing to their exceptionally long spin coherence time and their compatibility with integration. In this review, we first introduce the physical mechanisms underlying long-lived spin coherence in rare-earth systems, with particular emphasis on the zero-first-order-Zeeman transition and dynamical decoupling techniques. We then review the experimental progress in this field, highlighting three distinct lifetimes--the spin coherence time, the light storage time, and the quantum storage time--and covering experiments that have achieved hour-scale spin coherence, minute- to hour-scale light storage, and minute-scale single-photon-level quantum storage. Finally, we discuss the remaining challenges that hinder the realization of practical long-lived quantum memories, explore potential strategies to overcome these obstacles, and outline the prospects for their future applications in quantum networks.
ER -