Proof-of-principle demonstration of temporally multiplexed quantum repeater link based on atomic ensemble

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a proof-of-principle for a temporally multiplexed quantum repeater link using atomic ensembles, significantly increasing success rates and improving retrieval efficiency, advancing practical quantum network development.

Contribution

It presents the first experimental demonstration of a multiplexed quantum repeater link with enhanced success rate and high retrieval efficiency using atomic ensembles.

Findings

Success rate increased by an order of magnitude with multiplexing.

Achieved 70% on-demand retrieval efficiency.

Established a foundation for practical quantum networks.

Abstract

Duan-Lukin-Cirac-Zoller quantum repeater protocol provides a feasible scheme to implement long-distance quantum communication and large-scale quantum networks. The elementary link, namely the entanglement between two atomic ensembles, is a fundamental component of quantum repeater. For practical quantum repeater, it is required that the elementary link can be prepared with high yield and the spin waves stored in atoms can be efficiently converted into photons on demand. However, so far, such quantum repeater link has not been demonstrated in experiments. Here, we demonstrate a proof-of-principle multiplexed quantum repeater link by entangling two temporally multiplexed quantum memory. Compared with a single-mode link, the successful preparation rate of the multiplexed link is increased by one order of magnitude. By using the cavity-enhanced scheme, the on-demand retrieval efficiency of atomic spin waves is improved to 70%, which is beneficial for the subsequent entanglement swapping between adjacent links. The realization of temporally multiplexed quantum repeater link with high retrieval efficiency lays a foundation for the development of practical quantum networks.