Light Trap: Holding the Elusive ⚡ экспресс
Scientists have built a quantum memory with record efficiency. It works like a super-reliable flash drive for light particles. Now you can record and read light with almost no loss—a key step toward a quantum internet. A crystal thinner than a human hair can store up to 20 light signals simultaneously. What if future communications ran on such light-based 'flash drives'?
For quantum internet, light needs to be delayed—like mail at a sorting center. At the core is a thin crystal plate with europium ions (the element that gives red glow to smartphone screens). Placed between two mirrors, the crystal forms a trap. Light, ricocheting inside, is absorbed by an ion and emitted back a moment later—just like a mailbox that accepts and returns letters.
Thanks to spectroscopy, ideal materials were selected. Efficiency: 80% for laser pulses and nearly 70% for single photons from optical fiber. According to the Standard Model, light always travels at the speed of light, but here it freezes.
A thin membrane allows tuning the color of captured light with a gentle press—like a mailbox with an adjustable slot. This builds on the single-photon experiments of Serge Haroche and Jeff Kimble, now embodied in chips for quantum repeaters and optical processors.
🎯 A crystal with europium ions can store a light pulse for longer than a millisecond—by quantum standards, that's an eternity, during which light would circle the Earth more than seven times.