Realization of a programmable multi-purpose photonic quantum memory with over-thousand qubit manipulations

Quantum networks can enable various applications such as distributed quantum computing, long-distance quantum communication, and network-based quantum sensing with unprecedented performances. One of the most important building blocks for a quantum network is a photonic quantum memory which serves as the interface between the communication channel and the local functional unit. A programmable quantum memory which can process a large stream of flying qubits and fulfill the requirements of multiple core functions in a quantum network is still to-be-realized. Here we report a high-performance quantum memory which can simultaneously store 72 optical qubits carried by 144 spatially separated atomic ensembles and support up to a thousand consecutive write or read operations in a random access way, two orders of magnitude larger than the previous record. Due to the built-in programmability, this quantum memory can be adapted on-demand for several functions. As example applications, we realize quantum queue, stack, and buffer which closely resemble the counterpart devices for classical information processing. We further demonstrate the synchronization and reshuffle of 4 entangled pairs of photonic pulses with probabilistic arrival time and arbitrary release order via the memory, which is an essential requirement for the realization of quantum repeaters and efficient routing in quantum networks. Realization of this multi-purpose programmable quantum memory thus constitutes a key enabling building block for future large-scale fully-functional quantum networks.