  By harnessing aspects of quantum mechanics, communication and information
processing could be radically transformed. Promising forms of quantum
information technology include optical quantum cryptographic systems and
computing using photons for quantum logic operations. As with current
information processing systems, some form of memory will be required. Quantum
repeaters, which are required for long distance quantum key distribution,
require optical memory as do deterministic logic gates for optical quantum
computing. In this paper we present results from a coherent optical memory
based on warm rubidium vapour and show 87% efficient recall of light pulses,
the highest efficiency measured to date for any coherent optical memory. We
also show storage recall of up to 20 pulses from our system. These results show
that simple warm atomic vapour systems have clear potential as a platform for
quantum memory.
