A multinode quantum network over a metropolitan area
Jianlong Liu, Xi-Yu Luo, Yong Yu, Chaoyang Wang, Bin Wang, Hu, Yi, Jun Li, Mingyang Zheng, Bo Yao, Yan, Zi, Da Teng, Jinwei Jiang, Liu, Xiao-Bing, Xiu-Ping Xie, Jun Zhang, Qinghe Mao, Xiao Qiang Jiang, Qiang Zhang, Xiao‐Hui Bao, Jian-Wei Pan · arXiv (Cornell University) · 2023
Towards realizing the future quantum internet, a pivotal milestone entails the transition from two-node proof-of-principle experiments conducted in laboratories to comprehensive, multi-node setups on large scales. Here, we report on the debut implementation of a multi-node entanglement-based quantum network over a metropolitan area. We equipped three quantum nodes with atomic quantum memories and their telecom interfaces, and combined them into a scalable phase-stabilized architecture through a server node. We demonstrated heralded entanglement generation between two quantum nodes situated 12.5 km apart, and the storage of entanglement exceeding the round-trip communication time. We also showed the concurrent entanglement generation on three links. Our work provides a metropolitan-scale testbed for the evaluation and exploration of multi-node quantum network protocols and starts a new stage of quantum internet research.