Integrated Quantum Repeater Nodes

ended

Recent breakthroughs in the field of quantum technologies combining academic and R&D efforts have demonstrated the potential of quantum networks for major applications such as long-distance secure communication or quantum cloud computing. One current challenge is to deploy quantum networks out of the lab for realizing their expected far-reaching societal and economic impact. A crucial requirement for reaching this goal is the realization of a quantum repeater that will be able to extend quantum links to continental distances. In this context, the use of integrated photonic platforms, allowing for low-footprint, alignment-free and mass-manufacturable quantum nodes, represents a significant resource for real-life applications of quantum networks. In this proposal, we provide a route for achieving this goal through the integration of rare-earth quantum memories on fiber-pigtailed glass photonic chips. This technology enables the storage of single photons in a platform that is compatible with integrated photonic circuits used to perform quantum gates and computations. We will demonstrate for the first time on-demand retrieval of photons in an all-fiber quantum memory then build the first elementary integrated quantum memory node with a multi-memory photonic chip that could readily be embedded in a DLCZ-like quantum repeater architecture. The goals set in this proposal are important milestones towards the achievement of robust application-ready quantum networks and the establishment of a European quantum internet.