Optimized quantum entanglement network enabled by a state-multiplexing quantum light source (2502.19740v1)
Abstract: A fully connected quantum network with a wavelength division multiplexing architecture plays an increasingly pivotal role in quantum information technology. With such architecture, an entanglement-based network has been demonstrated in which an entangled photon-pair source distributes quantum entanglement resources to many users. Despite these remarkable advances, the scalability of the architecture could be constrained by the finite spectrum resource, where O(N2)wavelength channels are needed to connect N users, thus impeding further progress in real-world scenarios. Here, we propose an optimized scheme for the wavelength division multiplexing entanglement-based network using a state-multiplexing quantum light source. With a dual-pump configuration, the feasibility of our approach is demonstrated by generating state-multiplexing photon pairs at multiple wavelength channels with a silicon nitride microring resonator chip. In our demonstration, we establish a fully connected graph between four users with six wavelength channels - saving half of which without sacrificing functionality and performance of the secure communication. A total asymptotic secure key rate of 1946.9 bps is obtained by performing the BBM92 protocol with the distributed state. The network topology of our method has great potential for developing a scalable quantum network with significantly minimized infrastructure requirements.