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Nature 438, 749-750 (8 December 2005) | doi:10.1038/438749a; Published online 7 December 2005

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Quantum information: Remember that photon

Philippe Grangier1

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Storing single photons in atomic memories, and releasing them at a later time, is a required step on the way to quantum repeaters and long-distance quantum cryptography networks. This step has now been taken.

The basic unit of quantum information, the quantum bit or qubit, can be encoded in various physical quantities, such as the polarization states of photons, or the spin states of atomic nuclei. To make qubits practically useful, random coupling of them with the external world — an effect known as decoherence — must at all costs be avoided or corrected.

  1. Philippe Grangier is at the Laboratoire Charles Fabry de l'Institut d'Optique, 91403 Orsay Cedex, France.
    Email: philippe.grangier@iota.u-psud.fr

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