Storage of Multiple Coherent Microwave Excitations in an Electron Spin Ensemble

Abstract

Strong coupling between a microwave photon and electron spins, which could enable a long-lived quantum memory element for superconducting qubits, is possible using a large ensemble of spins. This represents an inefficient use of resources unless multiple photons, or qubits, can be orthogonally stored and retrieved. Here we employ holographic techniques to realize a coherent memory using a pulsed magnetic field gradient and demonstrate the storage and retrieval of up to 100 weak 10GHz coherent excitations in collective states of an electron spin ensemble. We further show that such collective excitations in the electron spin can then be stored in nuclear spin states, which offer coherence times in excess of seconds.