Development of a Boston-area 50-km fiber quantum network testbed

TL;DR

This paper characterizes a Boston-area quantum fiber network, analyzing signal degradation and demonstrating a noise compensation system to facilitate quantum communication and future network development.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive noise characterization of a quantum fiber testbed and introduces a resilient compensation system compatible with quantum memory integration.

Findings

Measured time-of-flight, polarization, and phase noise in the testbed

Designed a noise compensation system resilient to channel degradations

Enabling near-term quantum networking demonstrations

Abstract

Distributing quantum information between remote systems will necessitate the integration of emerging quantum components with existing communication infrastructure. This requires understanding the channel-induced degradations of the transmitted quantum signals, beyond the typical characterization methods for classical communication systems. Here we report on a comprehensive characterization of a Boston-Area Quantum Network (BARQNET) telecom fiber testbed, measuring the time-of-flight, polarization, and phase noise imparted on transmitted signals. We further design and demonstrate a compensation system that is both resilient to these noise sources and compatible with integration of emerging quantum memory components on the deployed link. These results have utility for future work on the BARQNET as well as other quantum network testbeds in development, enabling near-term quantum networking demonstrations and informing what areas of technology development will be most impactful in advancing future system capabilities.