Experimental demonstration of memory-enhanced scaling for entanglement connection of quantum repeater segments

Two quantum repeater segments are connected via on-demand entanglement swapping by using two atomic quantum memories. The efficiency improves from a quadratic scaling to a linear one with the preparation efficiency of the atom-photon entanglement. The quantum repeater protocol is a promising approach for implementing long-distance quantum communication and large-scale quantum networks. A key idea of the quantum repeater protocol is to use long-lived quantum memories to achieve an efficient entanglement connection between different repeater segments, with polynomial scaling. Here, we report an experiment that realizes the efficient connection of two quantum repeater segments via on-demand entanglement swapping through the use of two atomic quantum memories with storage times of tens of milliseconds. With the memory enhancement, acceleration in the scaling is demonstrated in the rate for a successful entanglement connection. Experimental realization of the entanglement connection of two quantum repeater segments with an efficient memory-enhanced scaling demonstrates a key advantage of the quantum repeater protocol, creating a cornerstone for the development of future large-scale quantum networks.

Automated summary

An experiment successfully demonstrates the efficient connection of two quantum repeater segments via on-demand entanglement swapping using two atomic quantum memories with storage times of tens of milliseconds, showcasing the acceleration in scaling for a successful entanglement connection. This highlights a key advantage of the quantum repeater protocol and sets the stage for the development of future large-scale quantum networks.