Atomic Ensembles as Nodes of Quantum and Classical Optical Networks

Quantum technologies, including communication and computing, are enabled by optical fields. Indeed, photons are excellent for carrying quantum information at long distances. Including of material systems in optical quantum networks is desired in order to enable additional functionalities, such as long-distance entanglement distribution or advanced quantum computing via interactions. We review applications of atomic ensembles in the quantum optical and hybrid optical-microwave networks.