Entanglement Distribution Research Articles

Experimental study of retrieval efficiency of Duan-Lukin-Cirac-Zoller quantum memory by optical cavity-enhanced

<sec>Long-distance entanglement distribution is an important task for quantum communication, but difficult to achieve due to the loss of photons in optical fiber transmission. Quantum repeater is a scheme to solve this problem. In this scheme, the long distance of entanglement distribution is divided into several small parts, the entanglement is established first at both ends of each part, then, the entanglement distance is extended through the entanglement exchange of adjacent interval parts, in order to achieve the long distance entanglement distribution. Of them, the Duan-Lukin-Cirac-Zoller (DLCZ) protocol based on the cold atom ensemble and the linear optics which can generate and store entanglement, is regarded as one of the most potential schemes. In the process of DLCZ, retrieval efficiency is an important index of the quantum repeater, because it will influence each entanglement exchange operation between adjacent quantum repeater nodes. Generally, the retrieval efficiency is improved by optimizing the reading pulse, increasing the optical depth (OD) of the atomic ensemble and the cavity enhancement. The ring cavity constrains the light field to increase the intensity of the interaction between light and atoms, and effectively improve the retrieval efficiency of the quantum memory.</sec><sec>In this work, atomic ensembles are placed in a ring cavity. The cavity length is 3.3 m and the fineness is 13.5. The optical loss of all ring cavity is 21%, mainly including 15% loss of other optical elements and 6% loss of the cell. In order to increase the retrieval efficiency, we need to ensure the mode resonance of read-out photon, write-out photon and locking. The cavity needs two input beams of light: one comes from the path of read-out photon and the other from the path of write-out photon in the reverse direction. The two beams are locked at the same frequency as the write-out photon and the read-out photon respectively. The cavity length is adjusted by moving the cavity mirrors’ positions through translating the frame, to make two light modes resonate. The acousto-optic modulator (AOM) is inserted into the path of the locking to control the frequency of the locking. By adjusting the AOM to change the frequency of the locking, the locking can be coincident with the write-out and read-out cavity modes. Then, the three-mode resonance can be achieved</sec><sec>When the cavity mode resonates with the atomic line, it will lead the atomic formants to split. thereby affecting the enhancement effect of retrieval efficiency. In the experiment, the detuning of the read light will affect the frequency of the read-out photon, and further affect the detuning of the cavity mode with the resonance line of the atom. Thus, by increasing the detuning between the reading light and the atomic transition line, the frequency splitting between the two modes can be reduced, then enhance the retrieval efficiency. We study the relation between the enhancement factor of the retrieval efficiency and the detuning amount of the reading light relative to the atomic resonance line. The results show that when the detuning amount of reading light is 80 MHz, the intrinsic readout efficiency is 45%, and the readout efficiency is enhanced by 1.68 times.</sec>

A Connection-Oriented Entanglement Distribution Design in Quantum Networks

Quantum networks create a completely new way for communication, and the most important function of a quantum network is to generate long-distance quantum entanglement to serve a number of quantum applications. As the scale of the network expands, in order to establish end-to-end entanglement between two remote nodes, entangled pairs need to be generated and distributed among multiple repeaters along the path from the source to the destination, which requires a specific protocol to negotiate resource allocations and quantum operations among the repeaters. Thus, to realize such remote entanglement distribution in a quantum network, designing a stable and reliable protocol becomes urgent and necessary. In this article, we focus on how to guarantee the generation rate of entangled pairs between any two quantum nodes to meet the requirements of various quantum applications in a large-scale quantum network. We present a connection-oriented entanglement distribution protocol inspired by the connection-oriented communication model in classical networks. Our protocol is located in the network layer of the quantum network to enable end-to-end quantum communication. Three main features are provided by the proposed protocol: 1) it is reliable and can guarantee the successful entanglement generation; 2) it can reduce the influence of quantum decoherence via reducing the latency caused by resource competition; and 3) it can guarantee the rate of generating entanglement between two quantum nodes according to the requirement of quantum applications.

Design and Implementation of the Illinois Express Quantum Metropolitan Area Network

The Illinois Express Quantum Network (IEQNET) is a program to realize metropolitan scale quantum networking over deployed optical fiber using currently available technology. IEQNET consists of multiple sites that are geographically dispersed in the Chicago metropolitan area. Each site has one or more quantum nodes (Q-nodes) representing the communication parties in a quantum network. Q-nodes generate or measure quantum signals such as entangled photons and communicate the measurement results via standard, classical signals and conventional networking processes. The entangled photons in IEQNET nodes are generated at multiple wavelengths, and are selectively distributed to the desired users via transparent optical switches. Here we describe the network architecture of IEQNET, including the Internet-inspired layered hierarchy that leverages software-defined networking (SDN) technology to perform traditional wavelength routing and assignment between the Q-nodes. Specifically, SDN decouples the control and data planes, with the control plane being entirely implemented in the classical domain. We also discuss the IEQNET processes that address issues associated with synchronization, calibration, network monitoring, and scheduling. An important goal of IEQNET is to demonstrate the extent to which the control plane classical signals can co-propagate with the data plane quantum signals in the same fiber lines (quantum-classical signal "coexistence"). This goal is furthered by the use of tunable narrow-band optical filtering at the receivers and, at least in some cases, a wide wavelength separation between the quantum and classical channels. We envision IEQNET to aid in developing robust and practical quantum networks by demonstrating metro-scale quantum communication tasks such as entanglement distribution and quantum-state teleportation.

Entanglement Assisted Radars With Transmitter Side Optical Phase Conjugation and Classical Coherent Detection

Entanglement is a unique quantum information processing feature. With the help of entanglement we can build quantum sensors whose sensitivity is better than that of classical sensors. In this paper we are concerned with the entanglement assisted (EA) bistatic quantum radar applications. By employing the optical phase conjugation (OPC) on transmitter side and classical coherent detection on receiver side we show that the detection probability of the proposed EA target detection scheme is significantly better than that of corresponding classical and coherent states-based quantum detection schemes. The proposed EA target detection scheme is evaluated by modelling the radar return channel as the lossy and noisy Bosonic channel and assuming imperfect distribution of entanglement over the idler channel.

High-fidelity storage and on-demand retrieval of quantum states via a microwave waveguide

On-demand quantum memory is an important step towards practical applications in various quantum information tasks such as long-distance entanglement distribution, quantum computation, and quantum networks. In this work, based on stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) protocol, we introduce a controllable delay between the reading pulse and writing pulse so that the quantum state can be stored in the superconducting waveguide and finally retrieved on demand with high fidelity. Through systematic numerical simulations, we find that if the duration of the writing pulse is set to be in a certain range, the readout unit is capable of retrieving the quantum state stored in the waveguide with high fidelity at any moment after a critical time. Moreover, we also investigate the robustness of our protocol, and find that the fidelity is robust against both the average number of thermal photons in the waveguide and the duration of the reading pulse. The numerical results also show that the pulse area in our protocol is only about one third of that in the original STIRAP protocol. Our protocol provides a practical way to combine the advantages of both on-demand quantum memory and the STIRAP protocol.

Multiplexed telecommunication-band quantum networking with atom arrays in optical cavities

The realization of a quantum network node of matter-based qubits compatible with telecom-band operation and large-scale quantum information processing is an outstanding challenge that has limited the potential of elementary quantum networks. We propose a platform for interfacing quantum processors comprising neutral atom arrays with telecom-band photons in a multiplexed network architecture. The use of a large atom array instead of a single atom mitigates the deleterious effects of two-way communication and improves the entanglement rate between two nodes by nearly two orders of magnitude. Further, this system simultaneously provides the ability to perform high-fidelity deterministic gates and readout within each node, opening the door to quantum repeater and purification protocols to enhance the length and fidelity of the network, respectively. Using intermediate nodes as quantum repeaters, we demonstrate the feasibility of entanglement distribution over approximately 1500 km based on realistic assumptions, providing a blueprint for a transcontinental network. Finally, we demonstrate that our platform can distribute approximately 25 Bell pairs over metropolitan distances, which could serve as the backbone of a distributed fault-tolerant quantum computer.

Quantum Network with Magnonic and Mechanical Nodes

A quantum network consisting of magnonic and mechanical nodes connected by light is proposed. Recent years have witnessed a significant development in cavity magnonics based on collective spin excitations in ferrimagnetic crystals, such as yttrium iron garnet (YIG). Magnonic systems are considered to be a promising building block for a future quantum network. However, a major limitation of the system is that the coherence time of the magnon excitations is limited by their intrinsic loss (typically in the order of 1 $\mu$s for YIG). Here, we show that by coupling the magnonic system to a mechanical system using optical pulses, an arbitrary magnonic state (either classical or quantum) can be transferred to and stored in a distant long-lived mechanical resonator. The fidelity depends on the pulse parameters and the transmission loss. We further show that the magnonic and mechanical nodes can be prepared in a macroscopic entangled state. These demonstrate the quantum state transfer and entanglement distribution in such a novel quantum network of magnonic and mechanical nodes. Our work shows the possibility to connect two separate fields of optomagnonics and optomechanics, and to build a long-distance quantum network based on magnonic and mechanical systems.

Noise-resistant quantum communications using hyperentanglement

Quantum information protocols are being deployed in increasingly practical scenarios, via optical fibers or free space, alongside classical communications channels. However, entanglement, the most critical resource to deploy to the communicating parties, is also the most fragile to the noise-induced degradations. Here we show that polarization-frequency hyperentanglement of photons can be effectively employed to enable noise-resistant distribution of polarization entanglement through noisy quantum channels. In particular, we demonstrate that our hyperentanglement-based scheme results in an orders-of-magnitude increase in the SNR for distribution of polarization-entangled qubit pairs, enabling quantum communications even in the presence of strong noise that would otherwise preclude quantum operations due to noise-induced entanglement sudden death. While recent years have witnessed tremendous interest and progress in long-distance quantum communications, previous attempts to deal with the noise have mostly been focused on passive noise suppression in quantum channels. Here, via the use of hyperentangled degrees of freedom, we pave the way toward a universally adoptable strategy to enable entanglement-based quantum communications via strongly noisy quantum channels.

Coupling of a quantum memory and telecommunication wavelength photons for high-rate entanglement distribution in quantum repeaters

Quantum repeaters are indispensable tools for long-distance quantum communication. However, frequency matching between entangled photon sources and remote quantum memories (QMs) is difficult, which is an obstacle to the implementation of quantum repeaters. In this paper, we demonstrate a method to achieve the coupling of a Pr:YSO as a fixed-time QM with a single telecommunication-wavelength photon through frequency stabilization using an optical frequency comb over all applied laser wavelengths. The demonstrated method can lead to the implementation of a quantum repeater scheme enabling an improvement of the entanglement generation rate, paving the way for long-distance quantum communication.

Entanglement between a Telecom Photon and an On-Demand Multimode Solid-State Quantum Memory.

Entanglement between photons at telecommunication wavelengths and long-lived quantum memories is one of the fundamental requirements of long-distance quantum communication. Quantum memories featuring on-demand readout and multimode operation are additional precious assets that will benefit the communication rate. In this Letter, we report the first demonstration of entanglement between a telecom photon and a collective spin excitation in a multimode solid-state quantum memory. Photon pairs are generated through widely nondegenerate parametric down-conversion, featuring energy-time entanglement between the telecom-wavelength idler and a visible signal photon. The latter is stored in a Pr^{3+}:Y_{2}SiO_{5} crystal as a spin wave using the full atomic frequency comb scheme. We then recall the stored signal photon and analyze the entanglement using the Franson scheme. We measure conditional fidelities of 92(2)% for excited-state storage, enough to violate a Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt inequality, and 77(2)% for spin-wave storage. Taking advantage of the on-demand readout from the spin state, we extend the entanglement storage in the quantum memory for up to 47.7 μs, which could allow for the distribution of entanglement between quantum nodes separated by distances of up to 10km.

Inhibition of spread of typical bipartite and genuine multiparty entanglement in response to disorder

The distribution of entanglement of typical multiparty quantum states is not uniform over the range of the measure utilized for quantifying the entanglement. We intend to find the response to disorder in the state parameters on this non-uniformity for typical states. We find that the typical entanglement, averaged over the disorder, is taken farther away from uniformity, as quantified by decreased standard deviation, in comparison to the clean case. The feature is seemingly generic, as we see it for Gaussian and non-Gaussian disorder distributions, for varying strengths of the disorder, and for disorder insertions in one and several state parameters. The non-Gaussian distributions considered are uniform and Cauchy–Lorentz. Two- and three-qubit pure state Haar-uniform generations are considered for the typical state productions. We also consider noisy versions of the initial states produced in the Haar-uniform generations. A genuine multiparty entanglement monotone is considered for the three-qubit case, while concurrence is used to measure two-qubit entanglement.

Reconfigurable Quantum Local Area Network Over Deployed Fiber

Practical quantum networking architectures are crucial for scaling the connection of quantum resources. Yet quantum network testbeds have thus far underutilized the full capabilities of modern lightwave communications, such as flexible-grid bandwidth allocation. In this work, we implement flex-grid entanglement distribution in a deployed network for the first time, connecting nodes in three distinct campus buildings time-synchronized via the Global Positioning System (GPS). We quantify the quality of the distributed polarization entanglement via log-negativity, which offers a generic metric of link performance in entangled bits per second. After demonstrating successful entanglement distribution for two allocations of our eight dynamically reconfigurable channels, we demonstrate remote state preparation -- the first realization on deployed fiber -- showcasing one possible quantum protocol enabled by the distributed entanglement network. Our results realize an advanced paradigm for managing entanglement resources in quantum networks of ever-increasing complexity and service demands.

A survey on advances of quantum repeater

The distribution of quantum entanglement is essential for quantum communication. Contrary to classical communication, the signal in quantum communication is impossible to copy due to the basic principles of quantum mechanics, i.e., quantum state collapse and no-cloning theorem. However, the communication range is limited by inevitable photon loss. To counteract this issue, one can insert several repeater stations between two remote end nodes to divide the full distance into several shorter segments and successively operate entanglement swapping between adjacent repeater stations to enable long-distance quantum communication. Up to now, one can classify quantum repeaters (QRs) into three generations based on the methods of reducing errors resulted from photon loss and imperfect operations. In this paper, we will briefly review advances for each generation of QRs and discuss the advantages and challenges of each generation. Moreover, we also discuss some efficient proposals of building blocks to overcome the bottlenecks for QRs.

Distribution of entanglement with variable range interactions

Distribution of quantum entanglement is investigated for an anisotropic quantum XY model with variable range interactions and in the presence of a uniform transverse magnetic field. We report the possibility of qualitative growth in entanglement between distant sites with an increase in the range of interactions that vary either exponentially or polynomially as the distance between the sites increases. Interestingly, we find that such entanglement enhancement is not ubiquitous and is dependent on the factorization points, a specific set of system parameters where the zero-temperature state of the system is fully separable. In particular, we observe that at zero-temperature, when the system parameters are chosen beyond the pair of factorization points, the increments in entanglement length due to variable range interactions are more pronounced compared to the situation when the parameters lie in between the factorization points. By employing the sum of all the bipartite entanglements with respect to a single site, we also show that the shareability of the bipartite entanglements is constrained, thereby establishing their monogamous nature. Furthermore, we note that the factorization points get reallocated depending on the laws of interaction fall-offs and provide an ansatz for the same. We reveal that the temperature at which the canonical equilibrium state becomes entangled from an unentangled one increases with the increase in the range of interactions, thereby demonstrating enhanced robustness in entanglement against temperature in the presence of long-range interactions and only when the system parameters are chosen between the pair of factorization points. We apply an energy-based entanglement witness to provide a justification to the observed robustness with temperature.

Tighter monogamy and polygamy relations for a superposition of the generalized W-class state and vacuum

Monogamy and polygamy relations characterize the distributions of entanglement in multipartite systems. We investigate the monogamy and polygamy relations with respect to any partitions for a superposition of the generalized W-class state and vacuum in terms of the Tsallis-q entanglement and the Rényi-α entanglement. By using the Hamming weight of the binary vectors related to the partitions of the subsystems, new classes of monogamy and polygamy inequalities are derived, which are shown to be tighter than the existing ones. Detailed examples are presented to illustrate the finer characterization of entanglement distributions.

Secure quantum secret sharing without signal disturbance monitoring.

Quantum secret sharing (QSS) is an essential primitive for the future quantum internet, which promises secure multiparty communication. However, developing a large-scale QSS network is a huge challenge due to the channel loss and the requirement of multiphoton interference or high-fidelity multipartite entanglement distribution. Here, we propose a three-user QSS protocol without monitoring signal disturbance, which is capable of ensuring the unconditional security. The final key rate of our protocol can be demonstrated to break the Pirandola-Laurenza-Ottaviani-Banchi bound of quantum channel and its simulated transmission distance can approach over 600 km using current techniques. Our results pave the way to realizing high-rate and large-scale QSS networks.

Surface states regulation of sulfide-based photoanode for photoelectrochemical water splitting

Regulating the surface states distribution on the photoanode/electrolyte interface is crucial to photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. Here we develop a CdIn2S4/InOx/NiFe-LDH adaptive junction to improve the PEC performance and stability of bare CdIn2S4, which achieves a photocurrent density of 5.47 mA cm−2 at 1.23 VRHE as well as good durability under AM 1.5G illumination without sacrificial reagent. The experimental characterizations evidence that both the charge carrier density (Nd) and surface states distribution (Nss) alter along with the interfacial structural regulation in the CdIn2S4/InOx/NiFe-LDH photoanode, and a proper ratio of Nss/Nd guarantee the optimal photocurrent. Meanwhile, a strained surface states distribution and negative shifted Nss center facilitate the charge transfer and interfacial water oxidation kinetics as well. This work highlights the influence of interfacial structural regulation on the entangled surface states distribution and charge carrier density and may inspire more excellent work on designing other efficient photoanodes.

Policies for elementary links in a quantum network

Distributing entanglement over long distances is one of the central tasks in quantum networks. An important problem, especially for near-term quantum networks, is to develop optimal entanglement distribution protocols that take into account the limitations of current and near-term hardware, such as quantum memories with limited coherence time. We address this problem by initiating the study of quantum network protocols for entanglement distribution using the theory of decision processes, such that optimal protocols (referred to as policies in the context of decision processes) can be found using dynamic programming or reinforcement learning algorithms. As a first step, in this work we focus exclusively on the elementary link level. We start by defining a quantum decision process for elementary links, along with figures of merit for evaluating policies. We then provide two algorithms for determining policies, one of which we prove to be optimal (with respect to fidelity and success probability) among all policies. Then we show that the previously-studied memory-cutoff protocol can be phrased as a policy within our decision process framework, allowing us to obtain several new fundamental results about it. The conceptual developments and results of this work pave the way for the systematic study of the fundamental limitations of near-term quantum networks, and the requirements for physically realizing them.

Distribution of Gaussian entanglement in linear-optical systems

Entanglement is an essential ingredient for building a quantum network that can have many applications. Understanding how entanglement is distributed in a network is a crucial step to move forward. Here we study the conservation and distribution of Gaussian entanglement in a linear network using a new quantifier for bipartite entanglement. We show that the entanglement can be distributed through a beam-splitter in the same way as the transmittance and the reflectance. The requirements on the entangled states and the type of networks to satisfy this relation are presented explicitly. Our results provide a new quantification for quantum entanglement and further insights into the structure of entanglement in a network.

Proposal for space-borne quantum memories for global quantum networking

Global-scale quantum communication links will form the backbone of the quantum internet. However, exponential loss in optical fibres precludes any realistic application beyond few hundred kilometres. Quantum repeaters and space-based systems offer solutions to overcome this limitation. Here, we analyse the use of quantum memory (QM)-equipped satellites for quantum communication focussing on global range repeaters and memory-assisted (MA-) QKD, where QMs help increase the key rate by synchronising otherwise probabilistic detection events. We demonstrate that satellites equipped with QMs provide three orders of magnitude faster entanglement distribution rates than existing protocols based on fibre-based repeaters or space systems without QMs. We analyse how entanglement distribution performance depends on memory characteristics, determine benchmarks to assess the performance of different tasks and propose various architectures for light-matter interfaces. Our work provides a roadmap to realise unconditionally secure quantum communications over global distances with near-term technologies.