Optimizing a connection through a quantum repeater network requires careful attention to the photon propagation direction of the individual links, the arrangement of those links into a path, the error management mechanism chosen, and the application's pattern of consuming the Bell pairs generated. We analyze combinations of these parameters, concentrating on one-way error correction schemes (1-EPP) and high success probability links (those averaging enough entanglement successes per round trip time interval to satisfy the error correction system). We divide the buffering time (defined as minimizing the time during which qubits are stored without being usable) into the link-level and path-level waits. With three basic link timing patterns, a path timing pattern with zero unnecessary path buffering exists for all $3^h$ combinations of $h$ hops, for Bell inequality violation experiments (B class) and Clifford group (C class) computations, but not for full teleportation (T class) computations. On most paths, T class computations have a range of Pareto optimal timing patterns with a non-zero amount of path buffering. They can have optimal zero path buffering only on a chain of links where the photonic quantum states propagate counter to the direction of teleportation. Such a path reduces the time that a quantum state must be stored by a factor of two compared to Pareto optimal timing on some other possible paths.
Long-distance quantum communication via entanglement distribution is of great importance for the quantum internet. However, scaling up to such long distances has proved challenging due to the loss of photons, which grows exponentially with the distance covered. Quantum repeaters could in theory be used to extend the distances over which entanglement can be distributed, but in practice hardware quality is still lacking. Furthermore, it is generally not clear how an improvement in a certain repeater parameter, such as memory quality or attempt rate, impacts the overall network performance, rende…
We propose a quantum repeater protocol and architecture that mitigates decoherence of the entangled states by optimizing the quantum memory buffer time. The protocol maximizes the rate of distillable entanglement in the average accessed state at all nesting levels. The achievable rate is higher by orders of magnitude in comparison to a canonical protocol that does not optimize the buffer time. The advantage of the proposed design is observed for all nesting levels of the repeater for technologically feasible memory quality, entanglement generation and swapping success probabilities.
We investigate a quantum repeater scheme for quantum key distribution based on the work by Muralidharan et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 250501 (2014). Our scheme extends that work by making use of error syndrome measurement outcomes available at the repeater stations. We show how to calculate the secret key rates for the case of optimizing the syndrome information, while the known key rate is based on a scenario of coarse-graining the syndrome information. We show that these key rates can surpass the Pirandola-Laurenza-Ottaviani-Banchi bound on secret key rates of direct transmission over lossy …
We present a physical- and link-level design for the creation of entangled pairs to be used in quantum repeater applications where one can control the noise level of the initially distributed pairs. The system can tune dynamically, trading initial fidelity for success probability, from high fidelity pairs (F=0.98 or above) to moderate fidelity pairs. The same physical resources that create the long-distance entanglement are used to implement the local gates required for entanglement purification and swapping, creating a homogeneous repeater architecture. Optimizing the noise properties of the …
Quantum communications capacity using direct transmission over length-$L$ optical fiber scales as $R \sim e^{-αL}$, where $α$ is the fiber's loss coefficient. The rate achieved using a linear chain of quantum repeaters equipped with quantum memories, probabilistic Bell state measurements (BSMs) and switches used for spatial multiplexing, but no quantum error correction, was shown to surpass the direct-transmission capacity. However, this rate still decays exponentially with the end-to-end distance, viz., $R \sim e^{-s{αL}}$, with $s < 1$. We show that the introduction of temporal multiplexing …
The feasibility of trust-free long-haul quantum key distribution (QKD) networks is addressed. We combine measurement-device-independent QKD (MDI-QKD), as an access technology, with a quantum repeater setup, at the core of future quantum communication networks. This will provide a quantum link none of whose intermediary nodes need to be trusted, or, in our terminology, a trust-free QKD link. As the main figure of merit, we calculate the secret key generation rate when a particular probabilistic quantum repeater protocol is in use. We assume the users are equipped with imperfect single photon so…
A protocol with the potential of beating the existing distance records for conventional quantum key distribution (QKD) systems is proposed. It borrows ideas from quantum repeaters by using memories in the middle of the link, and that of measurement-device-independent QKD, which only requires optical source equipment at the user's end. For certain fast memories, our scheme allows a higher repetition rate than that of quantum repeaters, thereby requiring lower coherence times. By accounting for various sources of nonideality, such as memory decoherence, dark counts, misalignment errors, and back…
In our previous paper [Phys. Rev. A 84, 042303 (2011)], we proposed an efficient scheme to purify dynamically a bipartite entangled state using short chains of atoms coupled to high-finesse optical cavities. In contrast to conventional entanglement purification protocols, we avoid controlled-NOT gates and thus reduce complicated pulse sequences and superfluous qubit operations. In this paper, we significantly improve the output fidelity of remotely entangled atoms by introducing one additional entanglement protocol in each of the repeater nodes and by optimizing the laser beams required to con…
Optimizing Continuous-Wave-Pumped Entanglement-based QKD in Noisy Environments
Qatar Centre for Quantum Computing, College of Science and Engineering, Hamad Bin Khalifa University（卡塔尔量子计算中心，科学与工程学院，哈马德·本·哈利法大学）；Institute of Physics, Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Informatics, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun（物理、天文和信息学院物理研究所，托伦哥白尼大学）
We consider quantum and private communications assisted by repeaters, from the basic scenario of a single repeater chain to the general case of an arbitrarily-complex quantum network, where systems may be routed through single or multiple paths. In this context, we investigate the ultimate rates at which two end-parties may transmit quantum information, distribute entanglement, or generate secret keys. These end-to-end capacities are defined by optimizing over the most general adaptive protocols that are allowed by quantum mechanics. Combining techniques from quantum information and classical …
We demonstrate a compact source of four entangled telecommunication wavelength photons, which is used to generate a GHZ state, with minimal spectral and spatial entanglement. The spatial and spectral degree of freedom are minimized by careful source design. To optimize the entanglement between the two sources, distinguishing temporal information must be removed. We demonstrate this high degree of coherence, between pairs of sources, by performing a Hong-Ou-Mandel measurement. This measurement enables the optical path lengths within the system to be equalized, removing timing information from p…
We address the timing problem in realizing correcting codes for quantum information processing. To deal with temporal uncertainties we employ a consistent quantum mechanical approach. The conditions for optimizing the effect of error correction in such a case are determined.
Timing Jitter Induced by Stochastic Baseline Fluctuations in High-Count-Rate Superconducting Nanowire Single-Photon Detectors
Shanghai Key Laboratory of Superconductor Integrated Circuit Technology, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences（上海超导集成电路技术重点实验室，中国科学院上海微系统与信息技术研究所）；National Key Laboratory of Materials for Integrated Circuits, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences（国家集成电路材料重点实验室，中国科学院上海微系统与信息技术研究所）；Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学物质科学与光电工程中心）；Shanghai Research Center for Quantum Sciences（上海量子科学研究中心）
