Distilling single-photon entanglement from photon loss and decoherence

TL;DR

This paper introduces a practical linear optical protocol to distill and recover maximally entangled single-photon states from loss and decoherence, enhancing quantum communication reliability.

Contribution

It presents a feasible, experimentally implementable method for improving single-photon entanglement quality in quantum communication systems.

Findings

Reduces photon loss probability

Recovers less-entangled states to maximally entangled states

Uses only linear optical elements for implementation

Abstract

Single-photon entanglement may be the simplest type of entanglement but it is of vice importance in quantum communication. Here we present a practical protocol for distilling the single-photon entanglement from both photon loss and decoherence. With the help of some local single photons, the probability of single photon loss can be decreased and the less-entangled state can also be recovered to maximally entangled state simultaneously. It only requires some linear optical elements which makes it feasible in current experiment condition. This protocol might find applications in current quantum communications based on the quantum repeaters.