Quantum teleportation from a telecom-wavelength photon to a solid-state quantum memory

Quantum teleportation [1] is a cornerstone of quantum information science due to its essential role in several important tasks such as the long-distance transmission of quantum information using quantum repeaters [2-4]. In this context, a challenge of paramount importance is the distribution of entanglement between remote nodes, and to use this entanglement as a resource for long-distance light-to-matter quantum teleportation. We report on the demonstration of quantum teleportation of the polarization state of a telecom-wavelength photon onto the state of a solid-state quantum memory. Entanglement is established between a rare-earth-ion doped crystal storing a single photon that is polarization-entangled with a flying telecom-wavelength photon [5, 6]. The latter is jointly measured, using highly efficient superconducting WSi nanowire single-photon detectors [7], with another flying qubit carrying the polarization state to be teleported, which heralds the teleportation. The fidelity of the polarization state of the photon retrieved from the memory is shown to be greater than the maximum fidelity achievable without entanglement, even when the combined distances travelled by the two flying qubits is 25 km of standard optical fibre. This light-to-matter teleportation channel paves the way towards long-distance implementations of quantum networks with solid-state quantum memories. (C) 2014 Optical Society of America