Reversible entanglement transfer between light and matter is a crucial requisite for the ongoing developments of quantum information technologies. Quantum networks and their envisioned applications, e.g., secure communications beyond direct transmission, distributed quantum computing or enhanced sensing, rely on entanglement distribution between nodes. Although entanglement transfer has been demonstrated, a current roadblock is the limited efficiency of this process that can compromise the scalability of multi-step architectures. Here we demonstrate the efficient transfer of heralded single-photon entanglement into and out-of two quantum memories based on large ensembles of cold cesium atoms. We achieve an overall storage-and-retrieval efficiency of 85% together with a preserved suppression of the two-photon component of about 10% of the value for a coherent state. Our work constitutes an important capability that is needed towards large scale networks and increased functionality.
Coherent State Assisted Entanglement Generation Between Quantum Memories
The University of Maryland, College Park（马里兰大学帕克分校）；RTX BBN Technologies（RTX BBN技术公司）；Wyant College of Optical Sciences, The University of Arizona（亚利桑那大学怀安特光学科学学院）
Promising access to high-speed quantum networks relies on the creation of high-dimensional entangled memories that provide quantum communication with higher capacity of noisy quantum channels, thereby reducing the transmission time of information. Yet, the distribution of multidimensional entanglement between remote memory nodes is still faintly investigated. We propose an experimentally feasible protocol of deterministic generation of high-dimensional entanglement between distant multi-level atoms confined in high-finesse optical cavities and driven by laser pulses. Three-dimensional entangle…
Future quantum networks will enable the distribution of entanglement between distant locations and allow applications in quantum communication, quantum sensing and distributed quantum computation. At the core of this network lies the ability of generating and storing entanglement at remote, interconnected quantum nodes. While remote physical systems of various nature have been successfully entangled, none of these realisations encompassed all of the requirements for network operation, such as telecom-compatibility and multimode operation. Here we report the demonstration of heralded entangleme…
Entangling quantum systems with different characteristics through the exchange of photons is a prerequisite for building future quantum networks. Proving the presence of entanglement between quantum memories for light working at different wavelengths furthers this goal. Here, we report on a series of experiments with a thulium-doped crystal, serving as a quantum memory for 794 nm photons, an erbium-doped fibre, serving as a quantum memory for telecommunication-wavelength photons at 1535 nm, and a source of photon pairs created via spontaneous parametric down-conversion. Characterizing the phot…
The sources, which generate atom-photon quantum correlations or entanglement based on quantum memory, are basic blocks for building quantum repeaters (QRs). For achieving highly entanglement-generation rates in ensemble-based QRs, spatial-, temporal- and spectral-multimode memories are needed. The previous temporal-multimode memories are based on rephrasing mechanisms in inhomogeneous-broadened media. Here, by applying a train of multi-direction write pulses into a homogeneous-broadened atomic ensemble to induce Duan-Lukin-Cirac-Zoller-like Raman processes, we prepare up to 19 pairs of modes, …
Quantum internet will enable a number of revolutionary applications. It relies on entanglement of remote quantum memories over long distances. Despite enormous progresses so far, the maximal physical separation achieved between two nodes is 1.3 km, and challenges for long distance remain. Here we make a significant step forward by entangling two atomic ensembles in one lab via photon transmission through metropolitan-scale fibers. We use cavity enhancement to create bright atom-photon entanglement, and harness quantum frequency conversion to shift the atomic wavelength to telecom. We realize e…
We present an exact rate analysis for a secret key that can be shared among two parties employing a linear quantum repeater chain. One of our main motivations is to address the question whether simply placing quantum memories along a quantum communication channel can be beneficial in a realistic setting. The underlying model assumes deterministic entanglement swapping of single-spin quantum memories and it excludes probabilistic entanglement distillation, and thus two-way classical communication, on higher nesting levels. Within this framework, we identify the essential properties of any optim…
Modular quantum computing architectures require fast and efficient distribution of quantum information through propagating signals. Here we report rapid, on-demand quantum state transfer between two remote superconducting cavity quantum memories through traveling microwave photons. We demonstrate a quantum communication channel by deterministic transfer of quantum bits with 76% fidelity. Heralding on errors induced by experimental imperfection can improve this to 87% with a success probability of 0.87. By partial transfer of a microwave photon, we generate remote entanglement at a rate that ex…
A central challenge for many quantum technologies concerns the generation of large entangled states of individually addressable quantum memories. Here, we show that percolation theory allows the rapid production of arbitrarily large graph states by heralded photonic entanglement in a lattice of atomic memories. This approach can greatly reduce the time required to produce large cluster resource states for quantum information processing, including states required for universal one-way quantum computing. This reduction puts our architecture in an operational regime where demonstrated collection,…
The use of multiplexed atomic quantum memories (MAQM) can significantly enhance the efficiency to establish entanglement in a quantum network. In the previous experiments, individual elements of a quantum network, such as the generation, storage and transmission of quantum entanglement have been demonstrated separately. Here we report an experiment to show the compatibility of these basic operations. Specifically, we generate photon-atom entanglement in a $6\times 5$ MAQM, convert the spin wave to time-bin photonic excitation after a controllable storage time, and then store and retrieve the p…
Owing to the inevitable loss in communication channels, the distance of entanglement distribution is limited to approximately 100 kilometres on the ground. Quantum repeaters can circumvent this problem by using quantum memory and entanglement swapping. As the elementary link of a quantum repeater, the heralded distribution of two-party entanglement between two remote nodes has only been realized with built-in-type quantum memories. These schemes suffer from the trade-off between multiplexing capacity and deterministic properties and hence hinder the development of efficient quantum repeaters. …
Quantum network has significant applications both practically and fundamentally. A hybrid architecture with photons and stationary nodes is highly promising. So far, experimental realizations are limited to two nodes with two photons. Going beyond state of the art by entangling many photons with many quantum nodes is highly appreciated. Here, we report an experiment realizing hybrid entanglement between three photons and three atomic-ensemble quantum memories. We make use of three similar setups, in each of which one pair of photon-memory entanglement with high overall efficiency is created vi…
Improving Entanglement Resilience in Quantum Memories with Error-Detection-Based Distillation
School of Electrical Engineering, Korea University（韩国大学电气工程学院）；Quantum Network Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information（韩国科学技术信息研究院量子网络研究中心）
Quantum communication between remote superconducting systems is being studied intensively to increase the number of integrated superconducting qubits and to realize a distributed quantum computer. Since optical photons must be used for communication outside a dilution refrigerator, the direct conversion of microwave photons to optical photons has been widely investigated. However, the direct conversion approach suffers from added photon noise, heating due to a strong optical pump, and the requirement for large cooperativity. Instead, for quantum communication between superconducting qubits, we…
One of the main problems in quantum communications is how to achieve high rates at long distances. Quantum repeaters, i.e., untrusted, intermediate relay stations, are necessary to overcome the repeaterless bound which sets the fundamental rate-distance limit of repeaterless communications. In this work, we introduce a continuous-variable protocol which overcomes the repeaterless bound and scales like the single-repeater bound using just one linear-optical device called a "quantum scissor", combining the entanglement distillation and entanglement swapping elements of previous repeater proposal…
We propose a dynamically-dark-mode (DDM) scheme to realize the reversible quantum conversion between microwave and optical photons in an electro-optomechanical (EOM) model. It is shown that two DDMs appear at certain times during the dynamical evolution of the EOM model. It is demonstrated that the DDMs can induce two kinds of reversible and highly efficient quantum conversion between the microwave and optical fields, the conditional quantum conversion (CQC) and the entanglement-assisted quantum conversion (EAQC). The CQC happens at the condition of vanishing of the initial-state mean value of…
We provide a complete set of game-theoretic conditions equivalent to the existence of a transformation from one quantum channel into another one, by means of classically correlated pre/post processing maps only. Such conditions naturally induce tests to certify that a quantum memory is capable of storing quantum information, as opposed to memories that can be simulated by measurement and state preparation (corresponding to entanglement-breaking channels). These results are formulated as a resource theory of genuine quantum memories (correlated in time), mirroring the resource theory of entangl…
Single and Double-click High-Rate Entanglement Generation Between Distant Ions Using Multiplexed Atomic Ensembles
University of Copenhagen（哥本哈根大学）；Niels Bohr Institute（尼尔斯·玻尔研究所）；Center for Hybrid Quantum Networks (Hy-Q)（混合量子网络中心）；Delft University of Technology（代尔夫特理工大学）；QuTech
Quantum repeaters, which are indispensable for long-distance quantum communication, are necessary for extending the entanglement from short distance to long distance; however, high-rate entanglement distribution, even between adjacent repeater nodes, has not been realized. In a recent work by C. Jones, et al., New J. Phys. 18, 083015 (2016), the entanglement distribution rate between adjacent repeater nodes was calculated for a plurality of quantum dots, nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond, and trapped ions adopted as quantum memories inside the repeater nodes. Considering practical use, arran…
Inspired by recent developments in the control and manipulation of quantum dot nuclear spins, which allow for the transfer of an electron spin state to the surrounding nuclear-spin ensemble for storage, we propose a quantum repeater scheme that combines individual quantum dot electron spins and nuclear-spin ensembles, which serve as spin-photon interfaces and quantum memories respectively. We consider the use of low-strain quantum dots embedded in high-cooperativity optical microcavities. Quantum dot nuclear-spin ensembles allow for the long-term storage of entangled states, and heralded entan…
