Light qubit storage and retrieval using macroscopic atomic ensembles

We present an experimentally feasible protocol for the complete storage and retrieval of arbitrary light states in an atomic quantum memory using the Faraday interaction between light and matter. Our protocol relies on multiple passages of a single light pulse through the atomic ensemble without the impractical requirement of kilometer-long delay lines between the passages. A time-dependent interaction strength enables the storage and retrieval of states with arbitrary pulse shapes. The fidelity approaches unity exponentially without squeezed or entangled initial states, as illustrated by calculations for a photonic qubit. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.