Elementary tripartite quantum communication photonic network at the telecom wavelength

Abstract

An elementary tripartite quantum communication network for discrete variables is proposed. In this network three nodes are quantum wired with quantum channel created by a pair of Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger (GHZ) triplet. We show that in this network by local operations and classical communication an arbitrary two-qubit state can be deterministically teleported from any node to any other node. In this network tripartite teleportation of two-qubit state is achieved by first splitting the qubit into fragments and then at the destination, qubit is re-constructed from the fragments. A high flux source for generation of fully inseparable GHZ photonic quantum channel required for developing an ideal tripartite quantum network is presented. This GHZ source employ a group velocity matched periodically poled potassium titanyl phosphate crystal in pulsed polarization Sagnac interferometer configuration and is based on selecting a three-photon entangled state from the product state of an entangled photon pair and a weak coherent state. This GHZ source generates tripartite entangled photons at telecom wavelength (1584 nm). Genuine entanglement in the generated GHZ state is detected with a witness (W) operator. Complete detail of the experimental apparatus required for developing an ideal tripartite quantum communication photonic network, which employ fully inseparable quantum channel, is presented. This quantum network fully operates at wavelength 1584 nm, which occurs in the L-band of the technologically important third telecom window. Success probability for teleportation of two-qubit photonic state within the tripartite quantum network is determined. We show that such quantum network is experimentally feasible. Experimental procedure to unambiguously verify the teleportation of an arbitrary two-qubit photonic state within the network is discussed. It is shown that our scheme can be implemented in a programmed teleportation system and it paves the way towards a large-scale quantum network.