We report an experimental demonstration of optimal storage and retrieval of heralded single-photon wave packets using electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in cold atoms at a high optical depth. We obtain an optimal storage efficiency of (49+/-3)% for single-photon waveforms with a temporal likeness of 96%. Our result brings the EIT quantum light-matter interface close to practical quantum information applications.
@article{arxiv.1207.2670,
title = {Optimal Storage and Retrieval of Single-Photon Waveforms},
author = {Shuyu Zhou and Shanchao Zhang and Chang Liu and J. F. Chen and Jianming Wen and M. M. T. Loy and G. K. L. Wong and Shengwang Du},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1207.2670},
year = {2012}
}