Long Distance Quantum Communication Using Cascade Emission in Atomic Ensembles

L.-M. Duan, Mikhail D. Lukin, J. I. Cirac +1 more

Pyeong Woo KIM, Han Seb Moon

T. Chanelière, Dzmitry Matsukevich, S. D. Jenkins +3 more

A quantum repeater at telecommunications wavelengths with long-lived atomic memory is proposed, and its critical elements are experimentally demonstrated using a cold atomic ensemble. Via atomic cascade emission, an entangled pair of 1.53 microm and 780 nm photons is generated. The former is ideal for long-distance quantum communication, and the latter is naturally suited for mapping to a long-lived atomic memory. Together with our previous demonstration of photonic-to-atomic qubit conversion, both of the essential elements for the proposed telecommunications quantum repeater have now been realized.

H. H. Jen, Ying-Cheng Chen

We investigate the spectral properties of the biphoton state from the cascade emissions of cold atomic ensembles, which are composed of a telecommunication photon (signal) followed by an infrared one (idler) via four-wave mixing. With adiabatic conditions for Gaussian driving pulses of width $\ensuremath{\tau}$, the spectrum of the biphoton state has the form of a Gaussian that conserves signal and idler photon energies within $\ensuremath{\hbar}/\ensuremath{\tau}$ modulated by a Lorentzian with a superradiant linewidth. Multiplexing the atomic ensembles with frequency-shifted cascade emissions, we may manipulate and shape the spectrum of the biphoton state. The entropy of entanglement is derived from Schmidt decomposition, which can be larger if we multiplex the atomic ensembles in a way that conserves signal and idler photon central energies. The eigenvalues in Schmidt bases are degenerate in pairs for symmetric spectral shaping in which the mode probability densities show interference patterns. We also demonstrate the excess entropy of entanglement that comes from continuous frequency space, which scales up the total entropy. The scheme of the multiplexed cascade-emitted biphoton state provides multimode structures that are useful in long-distance quantum communication and multimode quantum information processing.

Hans J. Briegel

T H Chang, G-D Lin, H H Jen

Abstract We theoretically investigate the spectral property of biphoton state from the cascade emissions from a Doppler-broadened atomic ensemble. This biphoton state is spontaneously created in the four-wave-mixing process. The upper transition of the emissions lies in telecom bandwidth, which prevails in fiber-based quantum communication for low-loss transmission. We obtain the spectral function of the biphoton state in terms of superradiant decay rates of the lower transition, excitation pulse durations, and temperature of the medium. We quantify their frequency entanglement by Schmidt decomposition and find that more entangled source can be generated with longer excitation pulses, enhanced decay rates, and significant Doppler broadening. A minimally entangled biphoton source can also be located at some optimal temperature of the atoms. By tuning these parameters, this biphoton source allows spectral shaping of continuous frequency entanglement, which is useful in multimode long-distance quantum communication.