Entanglement distribution through separable states via a zero-added-loss photon multiplexing inspired protocol

The recently proposed zero-added-loss multiplexing (ZALM) source of entangled photons enables higher efficiency in entanglement distribution than spontaneous parametric down-conversion sources and can be carried out using both space-to-ground and ground-to-ground links. We demonstrate the flexibility of ZALM architectures to be adapted to alternative entanglement distribution protocols. Focusing on the counterintuitive result that entanglement can be generated between distant parties without using any entanglement as a resource, we analyze two protocols for entanglement distribution to memories via separable states. Modeling them in a ZALM setup, we consider the effects of noise both in the communication channels and in the memories. We thereby identify the optimal protocol to use with respect to the highest entanglement generated, given the noise conditions of the network. Published by the American Physical Society 2024