| Quantum communication allows one to perform tasks, such as provable secure key distribution, that are impossible in traditional communication. However, to increase the usefulness of implementations of quantum communication, the communication distance must be increased beyond its current limit of around one-hundred kilometers. To this end, a quantum memory must be constructed for use in a quantum repeater. This thesis concerns the spectroscopic characterization of a novel material candidate for quantum memory: a thulium doped lithium niobate waveguide cooled to 3 Kelvin. Furthermore, the possibility to reversibly transfer quantum states from sub-nanosecond, faint pulses of light in and out of this solid state device is demonstrated. This work extends the current benchmarks for storage bandwidth and multimode capacity, both required for high rate quantum communications. In addition, the integrated approach bridges the gap between fundamental and applied research into quantum memory. |
