Linear optical scheme for error-free entanglement distribution and a quantum repeater

Abstract

We present a linear optical scheme for error-free distribution of two-photon polarization entangled Bell states over noisy channels. The scheme can be applied to an elementary quantum repeater protocol with potentially significant improvements in efficiency and system complexity. The scheme is based on the use of polarization and time-bin encoding of photons and can perform single-pair, single-step purification with currently available technology.