Abstract

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a plug-and-play, practical, and enabling method allowing to synchronise the building blocks of a quantum network in an all-optical way. Our scheme relies on mature and reliable classical telecommunication and non-linear optical technologies, and can be implemented in a universal way with off-the-shelf components. Compared to already reported solutions, it allows achieving high-quality synchronisation compatible with high network-operation rate and is free from opto-electronic jitters affecting servo-loop-based configurations. We test our scheme with a genuine quantum optical method in terms of the interference between two photons coming from two remotely synchronised sources spaced by distances of up to 100 km. Measured visibilities well above 90% confirm the validity of our approach. Due its simplicity and high-quality performance, our scheme paves the way for the synchronisation of long-distance quantum networks based on fibre, free-space, as well as hybrid solutions.

Details

Title
A universal, plug-and-play synchronisation scheme for practical quantum networks
Author
D’Auria Virginia 1 ; Fedrici Bruno 1 ; Ngah Lutfi Arif 1 ; Kaiser, Florian 2 ; Labonté, Laurent 1 ; Alibart Olivier 1 ; Tanzilli Sébastien 1 

 Institut de Physique de Nice (INPHYNI), UMR 7010, Université Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Nice, France (GRID:grid.497397.7) (ISNI:0000 0000 9497 6864) 
 Institut de Physique de Nice (INPHYNI), UMR 7010, Université Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Nice, France (GRID:grid.497397.7) (ISNI:0000 0000 9497 6864); University of Stuttgart and Institute for Quantum Science and Technology IQST, The 3rd Institute of Physics, Stuttgart, Germany (GRID:grid.5719.a) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 9713) 
Publication year
2020
Publication date
2020
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20566387
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2488776235
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.