Connecting processing-capable quantum memories over telecommunication links via quantum frequency conversion

For quantum information processing (QIP), it is important to have a long-lived quantum memory (QM), coupled to other QMs and quantum processors (QP). However, QM and QP systems demonstrated so far suffer from many limitations, and in the near future a single platform will not have the optimal version of all the components needed for QIP. Thus, it is also important to be able to couple quantum bits in different systems, for example, Rb atoms and NV diamond, preferably using telecom fibres. In this paper, we describe a quantum frequency converter (QFC) that will perform this telecom band qubit conversion. The QFC is based on periodically poled lithium niobate waveguides. For concreteness, we consider specific examples: the conversion of a 780 nm or 795 nm Rb qubit to the telecom band and the conversion of a 637 nm photonic NV diamond qubit to the telecom band, as well as the inverse processes. We show that interface fidelity exceeding 95% should be feasible. Given the storage times ∼1 s already demonstrated in the solid-state systems, and the recent demonstrations of spin-photon entanglement with the NV and entanglement of the NV spin with a superconducting flux qubit operating in the microwave region near 2.88 GHz, such a link would provide the key interface needed to build a quantum internet. Q1 (Some figures may appear in colour only in the online journal)