A team led by Gerhard Rempe at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics uses SmarAct‘s nanoprecise SMARSLIDE piezo stages to enter the uncharted territory of quantum communications.
In order to make this happen, they couple crossed optical fiber cavities to one atom. This setup essentially forms a quantum network node that connects to two quantum channels, one provided by each cavity. It features passive, heralded and high-fidelity quantum memory which isn’t dependent on any amplitude- and phase-critical control fields or error-prone feedback loops. Furthermore, slight modifications to the crossed optical fiber cavity setup provides non-destructive qubit detection within quantum networks. Both the highly reliable quantum memory system and the nondestructive qubit detection represent breakthroughs that pave the way for fully functional, large-scale quantum networks with multiple connected nodes.[1]
[1] https://doi.org/10.1002/phvs.202200015