Review paper on Quantum Repeaters with Atomic Ensembles

21 March 2011

Our review paper on Quantum Repeater with Atomic Ensembles and Linear Optics has been published in Review of Modern Physics.

Figure 28

Fig. Setup for the elementary link of a DLCZ quantum repeater between two quantum nodes (L, R) separated by 3 m.

Quantum repeater protocols are needed to solve the problem of photon loss in the distribution of quantum states over long distances in optical fibers, since in quantum communication straight forward amplification is not an option due to the no-cloning theorem. The practical realization of quantum repeaters is very challenging and requires the ability to temporarily store the quantum information carried by photons in quantum memories. In the review, the authors focus on an promising strategy which uses atomic ensembles as quantum memory, together with linear optics, and photon counting. This approach was proposed in 2001 by Lu-Ming Duan, Mikhail Lukin, Peter Zoller and Ignacio Cirac, and has generated an intense research effort worldwide, both at the theoretical and experimental level.

Ref: Quantum repeaters based on atomic ensembles and linear optics
Nicolas Sangouard, Christoph Simon, Hugues de Riedmatten, and Nicolas Gisin
Rev. Mod. Phys. 83, 33, 2011