Recently, the Hefei National Laboratory, in concert with research teams from the University of Science and Technology of China, the Jinan Institute of Quantum Technology, the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology (which is part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences), the University of Hong Kong, Tsinghua University, and other esteemed institutions, has achieved a groundbreaking feat. They have successfully constructed, for the first time on the international stage, a fundamental scalable quantum repeater module, paving the way for the realization of long-distance quantum networks.

This innovative module leverages a long-lived trapped-ion quantum memory, a high-efficiency ion-photon communication interface, and a high-fidelity single-photon entanglement protocol. These components work in tandem to achieve deterministic entanglement between two calcium-ion memories, spanning a 10-kilometer optical fiber link. Notably, both the entanglement storage time and coherence time surpass the average entanglement establishment time. This achievement fundamentally fulfills the physical prerequisites for multi-level entanglement swapping and entanglement purification in quantum repeaters, thereby providing indispensable technological support for the development of scalable quantum networks.