Quantum repeaters represent one possible way to achieve long-distance quantum key distribution. Collins et al. [O. A. Collins, S. D. Jenkins, A. Kuzmich, and T. A. B. Kennedy, Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 060502 (2007)] proposed multiplexing as a method to increase the repeater rate and to decrease the requirement of memory coherence time. Motivated by the experimental fact that long-range connections are practically demanding, in this paper we extend the original quantum repeater multiplexing protocol to the case of short-range connection. We derive analytical formulas for the repeater rate and we show that for short connection lengths it is possible to have most of the benefits of a full-range multiplexing protocol. Then we incorporate decoherence of quantum memories and we study the optimal matching for the Bell-state measurement protocol permitting us to minimize the memory requirements. Finally, we calculate the secret key rate and we show that the improvement via finite-range multiplexing is of the same order of magnitude as that via full-range multiplexing.
Quantum repeaters represent one possible way to achieve long-distance quantum key distribution. Collins et al. [O. A. Collins, S. D. Jenkins, A. Kuzmich, and T. A. B. Kennedy, Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 060502 (2007)] proposed multiplexing as a method to increase the repeater rate and to decrease the requirement of memory coherence time. Motivated by the experimental fact that long-range connections are practically demanding, in this paper we extend the original quantum repeater multiplexing protocol to the case of short-range connection. We derive analytical formulas for the repeater rate and we show that for short connection lengths it is possible to have most of the benefits of a full-range multiplexing protocol. Then we incorporate decoherence of quantum memories and we study the optimal matching for the Bell-state measurement protocol permitting us to minimize the memory requirements. Finally, we calculate the secret key rate and we show that the improvement via finite-range multiplexing is of the same order of magnitude as that via full-range multiplexing.
This work explores the important role of quantum routers in communication networks and investigates the increase in efficiency using memories and multiplexing strategies. Motivated by the bipartite setup introduced by Abruzzo et al. [Phys. Rev. A 89, 012303 (2014)] for finite-range multiplexing in quantum repeaters, we extend the study to an N-partite network with a router as a central station. We present a general protocol for N parties after defining the underlying matching problem and we calculate the router rate for different N. We analyze the improvement due to multiplexing and analyze the secret key rate with explicit results for the tripartite network. Investigating strategic qubit selection for the Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger measurements, we show that using cutoffs to remove qubits after a certain number of rounds and consistently combining qubits with the lowest number of storage rounds leads to an optimal secret key rate.
Quantum communication enables the implementation of tasks that are unachievable with classical resources. However, losses on the communication channel preclude the direct long-distance transmission of quantum information in many relevant scenarios. In principle, quantum repeaters allow one to overcome losses. However, realistic hardware parameters make long-distance quantum communication a challenge in practice. For instance, in many protocols an entangled pair is generated that needs to wait in quantum memory until the generation of an additional pair. During this waiting time the first pair decoheres, impacting the quality of the final entanglement produced. At the cost of a lower rate, this effect can be mitigated by imposing a cutoff condition. For instance, a maximum storage time for entanglement after which it is discarded. In this article, we optimize the cutoffs for quantum repeater chains. First, we develop an algorithm for computing the probability distribution of the waiting time and fidelity of entanglement produced by repeater chain protocols which include a cutoff. Then, we use the algorithm to optimize cutoffs in order to maximize the secret-key rate between the end nodes of the repeater chain. In this article, we find that the use of the optimal cutoff extends the parameter regime for which secret key can be generated and, moreover, significantly increases the secret-key rate for a large range of parameters.
Quantum key distribution over probabilistic quantum repeaters is addressed. We compare, under practical assumptions, two such schemes in terms of their secret key generation rates per quantum memory. The two schemes under investigation are the one proposed by Duan et al. [Nature (London) 414, 413 (2001)] and that of Sangouard et al. [Phys. Rev. A 76, 050301 (2007)]. We consider various sources of imperfection in both protocols, such as nonzero double-photon probabilities at the sources, dark counts in detectors, and inefficiencies in the channel, photodetectors, and memories. We also consider memory decay and dephasing processes in our analysis. For the latter system, we determine the maximum value of the double-photon probability beyond which secret key distillation is not possible. We also find crossover distances for one nesting level to its subsequent one. We finally compare the two protocols in terms of their achievable secret key generation rates at their optimal settings. Our results specify regimes of operation where one system outperforms the other.
We present a quantum repeater protocol for distributing entanglement over long distances, where a dedicated communication stage enables trial rates not limited by the travel time between repeater nodes. To accomplish this, each node contains several qubits that can couple to one single-photon emitter. Photons from the emitters in neighboring nodes generate heralded entanglement between qubits in these nodes. The protocol leaves the emitters disentangled from the rest of the system immediately after emitting the photons, thus allowing them to be reused to entangle other qubits without waiting for the repeater link round-trip time. This time multiplexing increases the protocol trial rate by up to an order of magnitude. The protocol is then combined with conventional deterministic entanglement swapping and heralded entanglement purification to extend the entanglement distance and reduce the entanglement error, respectively. We perform a complete protocol analysis by considering all relevant error sources, such as initialization, two-qubit gate, and qubit measurement errors, as well as the exponential decoherence of the qubits with time. The latter is particularly important since we analyze the protocol performance for a broad range of experimental parameters and obtain secret key rates ranging from 1 to 1000 Hz at a distance of 1000 km. Our results suggest that it is important to reach a qubit memory coherence time of around 1 s, and two-qubit gate and measurement errors on the order of 10 − 3 to obtain reasonable secret key rates over distances longer than achievable with direct transmission. While this work focuses on optimizing secret key rates, the protocol can also be used for Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen pair generation and is thus also relevant for, e.g., distributed quantum computing.
Abstract Continuous-variable (CV) codes and their application in quantum communication have attracted increasing attention. In particular, one typical CV codes, cat-codes, has already been experimentally created using trapped atoms in cavities with relatively high fidelities. However, when these codes are used in a repeater protocol, the secret key rate (SKR) that can be extracted between two remote users is extremely low. Here we propose a quantum repeater protocol based on cat codes with a few quantum memories or graph states as additional resources. This allows us to considerably increase the SKR by several orders of magnitude. Our findings provide valuable insights for designing efficient quantum repeater systems, advancing the feasibility and performance of quantum communication over long distances.
A quantum repeater is a system for long-distance quantum communication that employs quantum memory elements to mitigate optical fiber transmission losses. The multiplexed quantum memory (O. A. Collins, S. D. Jenkins, A. Kuzmich, and T. A. B. Kennedy, Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 060502 (2007)) has been shown theoretically to reduce quantum memory time requirements. We present an initial implementation of a multiplexed quantum memory element in a cold rubidium gas. We show that it is possible to create atomic excitations in arbitrary memory element pairs and demonstrate the violation of Bell's inequality for light fields generated during the write and read processes.