Robust Quantum Memory in a Trapped-Ion Quantum Network Node

Abstract

We integrate a long-lived memory qubit into a mixed-species trapped-ion quantum network node. Ion-photon entanglement first generated with a network qubit in Sr-88 is transferred to Ca-43 with 0.977(7) fidelity, and mapped to a robust memory qubit. We then entangle the network qubit with a second photon, without affecting the memory qubit. We perform quantum state tomography to show that the fidelity of ion-photon entanglement decays ~70 times slower on the memory qubit. Dynamical decoupling further extends the storage duration; we measure an ion-photon entanglement fidelity of 0.81(4) after 10s.