Photonic qubits memories are essential ingredients of numerous quantum networking protocols. The ideal situation features quantum computing nodes that are efficiently connected to quantum communication channels via quantum interfaces. The nodes contain a set of long-lived matter qubits, the channels support the propagation of light qubits, and the interface couples light and matter qubits. Toward this vision, we here demonstrate a random-access multi-qubit write-read memory for photons using two rubidium atoms coupled to the same mode of an optical cavity, a setup that is known to feature quantum computing capabilities. We test the memory with more than ten independent photonic qubits, observe no noticeable cross-talk, and find no need for re-initialization even after ten write-read attempts. The combined write-read efficiency is 26% and the coherence time approaches 1 ms. With these features, the node constitutes a promising building block for a quantum repeater and ultimately a quantum internet.

光子量子位存储器是众多量子网络协议的重要组成部分。理想情况是具有量子计算节点，该节点通过量子接口有效地连接到量子通信通道。节点包含一组长寿命物质量子位，通道支持光量子位的传播，并且接口耦合光和物质量子位。为了实现这一愿景，我们在这里演示了一个光子的随机存取多量子位写-读存储器，该存储器使用两个to原子耦合到光腔的相同模式，该设置已知具有量子计算功能。我们使用十多个独立的光子量子位测试内存，观察不到明显的串扰，甚至在尝试十次读写操作后也无需重新初始化。组合的读写效率为26％，相干时间接近1 ms。具有这些功能，该节点构成了量子中继器和最终量子互联网的有前途的构建基块。