Creation of memory–memory entanglement in a metropolitan quantum network

Towards realizing the future quantum internet 1 , 2 , a pivotal milestone entails the transition from two-node proof-of-principle experiments conducted in laboratories to comprehensive multi-node set-ups on large scales. Here we report the creation of memory–memory entanglement in a multi-node quantum network over a metropolitan area. We use three independent memory nodes, each of which is equipped with an atomic ensemble quantum memory 3 that has telecom conversion, together with a photonic server where detection of a single photon heralds the success of entanglement generation. The memory nodes are maximally separated apart for 12.5 kilometres. We actively stabilize the phase variance owing to fibre links and control lasers. We demonstrate concurrent entanglement generation between any two memory nodes. The memory lifetime is longer than the round-trip communication time. Our work provides a metropolitan-scale testbed for the evaluation and exploration of multi-node quantum network protocols and starts a stage of quantum internet research. A metropolitan-area quantum network based on the generation of pairwise entanglement is formed by three atomic quantum memories connected to a central photonic server.