Physicists create new, simpler-than-ever quantum 'hard drive for light'
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/11/181105132854.htm
"We've developed a new way to store pulses of light -- down to the single-photon level -- in clouds of ultracold rubidium atoms, and to later retrieve them, on-demand, by shining a 'control' pulse of light," said Lindsay LeBlanc, assistant professor of physics and Canada Research Chair in Ultracold Gases for Quantum Simulation. LeBlanc conducted this research with postdoctoral fellow Erhan Saglamyurek.
Quantum memories are an important component of quantum networks, serving much the same role as hard drives in today's computers. And the interest in storing quantum data efficiently and effectively is only growing, with practical applications including a quantum fibre-optic internet and other methods of secure communication.