Broadband Quantum Optical Storage with Chemically Engineered Molecular Eu$^\text{3+}$ Complex
Broadband quantum memory devices are essential elements for future quantum networks. Here we propose a broadband quantum memory scheme called Hole Anti-hole Grating Echo Memory (HAGEM) for rare-earth ions in solids. We provide a Eu$^\text{3+}$ molecular complex with special hyperfine level structures of which the hyperfine level separations are in a specific mathematical correlation that can be obtained by harnessing chemical engineering. Using the memory protocol and material, we experimentally demonstrate a quantum optical storage efficiency of 14.9% and a memory bandwidth of 200MHz, which can easily be extended to a few GHz. With this demonstration, we show the first quantum application enabled by molecular engineering which cannot be achieved by any other existing Eu$^\text{3+}$ solid-state materials. In addition, we provide a framework for the chemical engineering of solid-state materials with rare-earth ions for quantum applications consisting of material design, synthesis & characterization techniques, and analytical methods for the quantum properties of rare-earth (RE) ions in solids. This work establishes a new direction in which molecular rare-earth ions can be used for a wide range of quantum applications, which cannot be realized by existing solid-state materials. This will greatly facilitate the development of molecular quantum emitter systems for real world applications.