Deterministic quantum state transfer and remote entanglement using microwave photons

Abstract

Sharing information coherently between nodes of a quantum network is fundamental to distributed quantum information processing. In this scheme, the computation is divided into subroutines and performed on several smaller quantum registers that are connected by classical and quantum channels1. A direct quantum channel, which connects nodes deterministically rather than probabilistically, achieves larger entanglement rates between nodes and is advantageous for distributed fault-tolerant quantum computation2. Here we implement deterministic state-transfer and entanglement protocols between two superconducting qubits fabricated on separate chips. Superconducting circuits3 constitute a universal quantum node4 that is capable of sending, receiving, storing and processing quantum information5–8. Our implementation is based on an all-microwave cavity-assisted Raman process9, which entangles or transfers the qubit state of a transmon-type artificial atom10 with a time-symmetric itinerant single photon. We transfer qubit states by absorbing these itinerant photons at the receiving node, with a probability of 98.1 ± 0.1 per cent, achieving a transfer-process fidelity of 80.02 ± 0.07 per cent for a protocol duration of only 180 nanoseconds. We also prepare remote entanglement on demand with a fidelity as high as 78.9 ± 0.1 per cent at a rate of 50 kilohertz. Our results are in excellent agreement with numerical simulations based on a master-equation description of the system. This deterministic protocol has the potential to be used for quantum computing distributed across different nodes of a cryogenic network. Deterministic quantum state transfer and entanglement generation is demonstrated between superconducting qubits on distant chips using single photons.