Entanglement swapping across a five-node relay in a multiplexed quantum-classical network
Andrew R. Cameron, Jordan M. Thomas, Alexandru Macridin, Si Xie, Raju Valivarthi, Soumya S. Ghosh, Yerko Muñoz Barros, Neil Sinclair, Panagiotis Spentzouris, Maria Spiropulu, Prem Kumar, Cristián Peña
Quantum networks are resources for scaling quantum computers and distributed sensing technologies while offering post-quantum security benefits. Teleporting non-classical resources like entanglement, via so called entanglement swapping, is essential for networks in particular overcoming rate-loss limits via quantum repeaters. Deploying these systems on real infrastructure will likely require multiplexing photonic qubits into fibers carrying 'classical' light encoding standard Internet communications and control plane signals for multi-node quantum protocols. Here, we report the first demonstration of entanglement swapping and conventional communications operating over the same fibers. Entanglement is swapped across a five-node quantum relay topology connected by four long-distance fibers, each populated with classical data signals. Time-bin entangled photons in the C-band are multiplexed alongside C-band classical signals using dense-wavelength division multiplexing, introducing noise photons generated by high-power classical light. We experimentally and theoretically characterize the trade-off between quantum fidelity and Raman noise photons. Entanglement swapping is demonstrated over a maximum fiber length of 40 km (four 10-km fibers) while simultaneously transmitting 10-Gbps classical data through all fibers. These results represent a significant advancement in the demonstrated complexity of coexisting quantum and classical networks and provide a roadmap for achieving the widespread deployment of advanced quantum technologies.
Quantum networks are resources for scaling quantum computers and distributed sensing technologies while offering post-quantum security benefits. Teleporting non-classical resources like entanglement, via so called entanglement swapping, is essential for networks in particular overcoming rate-loss limits via quantum repeaters. Deploying these systems on real infrastructure will likely require multiplexing photonic qubits into fibers carrying 'classical' light encoding standard Internet communications and control plane signals for multi-node quantum protocols. Here, we report the first demonstration of entanglement swapping and conventional communications operating over the same fibers. Entanglement is swapped across a five-node quantum relay topology connected by four long-distance fibers, each populated with classical data signals. Time-bin entangled photons in the C-band are multiplexed alongside C-band classical signals using dense-wavelength division multiplexing, introducing noise photons generated by high-power classical light. We experimentally and theoretically characterize the trade-off between quantum fidelity and Raman noise photons. Entanglement swapping is demonstrated over a maximum fiber length of 40 km (four 10-km fibers) while simultaneously transmitting 10-Gbps classical data through all fibers. These results represent a significant advancement in the demonstrated complexity of coexisting quantum and classical networks and provide a roadmap for achieving the widespread deployment of advanced quantum technologies.
The ability for quantum and conventional networks to operate in the same optical fibers would aid the deployment of quantum network technology on a large scale. Quantum teleportation is a fundamental operation in quantum networking, but has yet to be demonstrated in fibers populated with high-power conventional optical signals. Here we report, to the best of our knowledge, the first demonstration of quantum teleportation over fibers carrying conventional telecommunications traffic. Quantum state transfer is achieved over a 30.2-km fiber carrying 400-Gbps C-band classical traffic with a Bell state measurement performed at the fiber’s midpoint. To protect quantum fidelity from spontaneous Raman scattering noise, we use optimal O-band quantum channels, narrow spectro-temporal filtering, and multi-photon coincidence detection. Fidelity is shown to be well maintained with an elevated C-band launch power of 18.7 dBm for the single-channel 400-Gbps signal, which we project could support multiple classical channels totaling many terabits/s aggregate data rates. These results show the feasibility of advanced quantum and classical network applications operating within a unified fiber infrastructure.
Compatibility with existing classical network infrastructure offers a scalable path towards deploying large-scale quantum networks. Here, we demonstrate O-band polarization-encoded quantum entanglement distribution over an installed 24.4-km fiber while coexisting with a state-of-the-art fully-loaded C-band classical communications line system and a picosecond-level precision L-band synchronization signal. The classical system carries two 800-Gbps channels while the remainder of the C-band is filled with amplified spontaneous emission, as is standard for such state-of-the-art communications systems. We examine the spontaneous Raman scattering spectrum generated from this broadband C-band light and offer insights into wavelength allocation for O-band quantum channels. Optimal wavelength selection and narrow filtering enable well-preserved Bell state fidelity when coexisting with 21.4-dBm aggregate launch power across the C-band suitable for 36-Tbps transmission. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first implementation of entanglement-based quantum communications between two remote nodes coexisting with independent classical communications traffic. We demonstrate coexistence of quantum entanglement with ultra-high power levels and record classical bandwidth, offering promise for real-world entanglement-based networking integrated within high-capacity communications infrastructure.
Quantum networks exhibit enhanced performance compared to their classical counterparts, enabling secure communication and enhanced sensing protocols. Scalable quantum networks must transmit photons over distances ranging from kilometers to metropolitan scales while preserving entanglement. The objective of this thesis is to characterize the sources and switches of real-world deployed quantum networks, which require an intimate knowledge of nonlinear concepts and devices that drive these operating regimes. Importantly, quantum networks are deployed alongside existing classical communication infrastructure to ensure scalability and compatibility with established fiber-based systems. As a result, quantum and classical signals must coexist within the same telecommunication network. Because quantum infrastructure relies on optical fiber, these networks are susceptible to instabilities arising from fiber- induced effects. To fully realize a scalable quantum network, we investigated the quantum physical layer to optimize performance and identify limitations in our networking system. We characterized the performance of an entangled-photon source used to produce polarization-entangled photons. We then observe how well a high-speed, low-loss quantum switch preserves entanglement, demonstrating its utility for transmitting photons to different nodes in scalable quantum networks. We then analyze a 30 km deployed fiber located in the DC metropolitan area to examine how fiber-induced effects influence network performance. Quantum networks uniquely leverage quantum phenomena to enable fundamentally secure communication and distributed quantum computing beyond the capabilities of classical systems. To realize these advantages, careful characterization of the quantum physical layer and deployed fiber-based networks is essential, as it ensures the stability, reliability, and high-fidelity operation required for large-scale quantum network applications.
The coexistence of quantum information and classical signals within the same fiber link is essential for realizing future quantum networks that utilize the well-established optical fiber infrastructure. In this work, we demonstrate the coexistence of C-band energy-time entanglement and L-band classical data. By employing wavelength-division multiplexing techniques and polarization management, we achieve quantum entanglement distribution over a 40-km-long fiber carrying $4\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\textmu{}\mathrm{W}$ of bidirectional received power. Under the highest noise conditions, we obtain a visibility of $84.59\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.68%$ from Franson interference and calculate a secret key rate of 1.89 kbps using the Bennett-Brassard-Mermin 1992 (BBM92) protocol, showing improved performance compared to an all-C-band setup. These results pave the way for large-scale quantum-classical coexistence within existing optical fiber infrastructure.
The Internet has revolutionized the way we live. It has enabled applications far beyond what it was originally built for, and it will continue to exceed our expectations for the future. Quantum computers, and the network that will connect them—the Quantum Internet— are likely going to follow the same path. Differently from normal computers, quantum computers can share a property called entanglement, which allows the qubits (quantum bits) to be connected at a much more fundamental level. This property enables a range of new applications that span secure communication to enhanced metrology. Over the past fifteen years, significant progress has been made in connecting rudimentary quantum network nodes via long-distance entanglement. Several quantum platforms have demonstrated entanglement generation between two physically separated qubits. In this thesis we take a significant step forward, both in terms of experimental complexity achieved, and in the abstraction of said complexity for future developments. Moving past two-node experiments required a fundamental redesign of our experimental apparatus, as well as developing the capabilities to control simultaneously the additional node. The first result of this thesis is building a three-node entanglement-based quantum network. We demonstrated distribution of Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states over the network, as well as a building block for larger networks: entanglement swapping. Differently from previous multi-node demonstrations, which relied on post-selection, our network is able to perform the entanglement distribution in a heralded fashion: a signal will notify the users that the protocol was successful, and that the state is ready to be used. The second result builds on the first, by adding control over a fifth qubit, improving the quality of the entanglement, and introducing a novel repetitive readout technique, to achieve quantum teleportation of a qubit from the third node to the first—nodes that do not share a direct entanglement channel. The third and final result is the demonstration of entanglement delivery using a quantum network stack. The Internet is built using a plethora of physical platforms: optical fibers, Ethernet cables, Wi-Fi, satellite signals etc. To abstract their functionality, and make applications work regardless of the underlying platform, a layered approach was developed in the 1970s (the Internet protocol). Taking inspiration from classical network stacks, we demonstrate the first two layers of a quantum network stack, the physical layer (where the qubits, lasers and signal generators live), and the link layer, which abstracts the concepts of qubit and entanglement generation such that they can be used by applications at the higher-layers, hiding the complexity of the quantum platform being used.
Entanglement swapping between photon pairs generated at physically separated nodes over telecommunication fiber infrastructure is an essential step towards the quantum internet, enabling applications such as quantum repeaters, blind quantum computing, distributed quantum computing, and distributed quantum sensing. However, successful networked entanglement swapping relies on generating indistinguishable pairs of photons and preserving them over deployed fibers. This has limited most previous demonstrations to laboratory settings or relied on sophisticated methods to maintain the necessary indistinguishability. Here, we demonstrate a scalable entanglement swapping experiment using naturally indistinguishable entanglement sources based on warm atomic vapor cells. Without sharing lasers or optical frequency references between nodes, nor the need for pulsing the sources, we achieve a swapping rate of nearly 500 pairs/s while maintaining the CHSH parameter above 2. Additionally, we demonstrate the scalability of our method by maintaining the quality of the entanglement swapping on 17.6-km of deployed fibers in NYC, relying on commercially available SPADs at the spoke nodes, SNSPDs at the hub and standard time-synchronization techniques. Our work paves the way for the practical deployment of large-scale hub-and-spoke quantum networks within cities and data centers.