Coherent State Assisted Entanglement Generation Between Quantum Memories

Abstract

Generating entanglement deterministically at a capacity-approaching rate is critical for next-generation quantum networks. We propose weak-coherent-state-assisted protocols that can generate entanglement near-deterministically between reflective-cavity-based quantum memories at a success rate that exceeds the 50\% limit associated with single-photon-mediated schemes. The most pronounced benefit is shown in the low-channel-loss regime and persists even with moderate noise. We extend our protocols to entangle an array of memories in a GHZ state, and infer that it yields an exponential speed-up compared to previous single-photon-based protocols.