Quantum key distribution allows for the generation of a secret key between distant parties connected by a quantum channel such as optical fibre or free space. Unfortunately, the rate of generation of a secret key by direct transmission is fundamentally limited by the distance. This limit can be overcome by the implementation of so-called quantum repeaters. Here, we assess the performance of a specific but very natural setup called a single sequential repeater for quantum key distribution. We offer a fine-grained assessment of the repeater by introducing a series of benchmarks. The benchmarks, which should be surpassed to claim a working repeater, are based on finite-energy considerations, thermal noise and the losses in the setup. In order to boost the performance of the studied repeaters we introduce two methods. The first one corresponds to the concept of a cut-off, which reduces the effect of decoherence during the storage of a quantum state by introducing a maximum storage time. Secondly, we supplement the standard classical post-processing with an advantage distillation procedure. Using these methods, we find realistic parameters for which it is possible to achieve rates greater than each of the benchmarks, guiding the way towards implementing quantum repeaters.

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The impact of future quantum networks hinges on high-quality quantum entanglement shared between network nodes. Unavoidable imperfections necessitate a means to improve remote entanglement by local quantum operations. We realize entanglement distillation on a quantum network primitive of distant electron-nuclear two-qubit nodes. The heralded generation of two copies of a remote entangled state is demonstrated through single-photon-mediated entangling of the electrons and robust storage in the nuclear spins. After applying local two-qubit gates, single-shot measurements herald the distillation of an entangled state with increased fidelity that is available for further use. The key combination of generating, storing, and processing entangled states should enable the exploration of multiparticle entanglement on an extended quantum network.

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We report on the fabrication and characterization of a Fabry-Perot microcavity enclosing a thin diamond membrane at cryogenic temperatures. The cavity is designed to enhance resonant emission of single nitrogen-vacancy centers by allowing spectral and spatial tuning while preserving the optical properties observed in bulk diamond. We demonstrate cavity finesse at cryogenic temperatures within the range of F ¼ 4000–12 000 and find a sub-nanometer cavity stability. Modeling shows that coupling nitrogen-vacancy centers to these cavities could lead to an increase in remote entanglement success rates by three orders of magnitude.@en

In July 2015 we observed the first Bell inequality violation with all experimental loopholes closed. We discuss this experiment as well as new results on the road towards a large-scale quantum network of diamond spins.@en

The recently reported violation of a Bell inequality using entangled electronic spins in diamonds (Hensen et al., Nature 526, 682–686) provided the first loophole-free evidence against local-realist theories of nature. Here we report on data from a second Bell experiment using the same experimental
setup with minor modifications. We find a violation of the CHSH-Bell inequality of 2.35 ± 0.18, in agreement with the first run, yielding an overall value of S = 2.38 ± 0.14. We calculate the resulting P-values of the second experiment and of the combined Bell tests. We provide an additional analysis of the distribution of settings choices recorded during the two tests, finding that the observed
distributions are consistent with uniform settings for both tests. Finally, we analytically study the effect of particular models of random number generator (RNG) imperfection on our hypothesis test. We find that the winning probability per trial in the CHSH game can be bounded knowing only the mean of the
RNG bias. This implies that our experimental result is robust for any model underlying the estimated average RNG bias, for random bits produced up to 690 ns too early by the random number generator.@en

The realization of a network of quantum registers is an outstanding challenge in quantum science and technology. We experimentally investigate a network node that consists of a single nitrogen-vacancy center electronic spin hyperfine coupled to nearby nuclear spins. We demonstrate individual control and readout of five nuclear spin qubits within one node. We then characterize the storage of quantum superpositions in individual nuclear spins under repeated application of a probabilistic optical internode entangling protocol. We find that the storage fidelity is limited by dephasing during the electronic spin reset after failed attempts. By encoding quantum states into a decoherence-protected subspace of two nuclear spins, we show that quantum coherence can be maintained for over 1000 repetitions of the remote entangling protocol. These results and insights pave the way towards remote entanglement purification and the realization of a quantum repeater using nitrogen-vacancy center quantum-network nodes.

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