Harvard University and Georgia Institute of Technology researchers have succeeded in transferring quantum information between “quantum memories” — from atoms to photons and back again.

Both teams employed powerful laser pulses to extract quantum information from a cloud of atoms in the form of a single photon. That photon was then transmitted through a normal optical fiber before its quantum state was transferred to a second atomic cloud.

The technique could lead to the development of secure, long-distance optical-quantum communications channels. It could also be harnessed to build a quantum computer, by passing information from one part of the machine’s memory to another.