Realization of a functioning dual-type trapped-ion quantum network node.

Abstract

Trapped ions constitute a promising platform for implementation of a quantum network. Recently, a dual-type qubit scheme has been realized in a quantum network node where communication qubits and memory qubits are encoded in different energy levels of the same ion species, such that the generation of ion-photon entanglement on the communication qubits has negligible cross-talk error on the preloaded quantum information in the memory qubits. However, to achieve versatile applications of a quantum network, a crucial component of the dual-type node, namely, the entangling gate between the communication and the memory qubits, is still missing. Here, we report a dual-type quantum network node equipped with ion-photon entanglement generation, cross-talk-free quantum memory, and entangling gates between dual-type qubits simultaneously. We demonstrate its practical applications including the passive quantum-state teleportation and the preparation of multipartite entangled state. Our work achieves the necessary components of a dual-type quantum network node.