Quantum switches for single-photon routing and entanglement generation in waveguide-based networks

The interconnection of quantum nodes holds great promise for scaling up quantum computing units and enabling information processing across long-distance quantum registers. Such quantum networks can be realized using superconducting qubits linked by waveguides, which facilitate fast and robust on-demand quantum information exchange via traveling single photons. In this article, we propose leveraging additional qubit degrees of freedom as quantum switches that coherently condition the system dynamics. These switches are implemented using a qubit dispersively coupled to transfer resonators, which mediate interactions between node qubits and quantum links. Through wavepacket shaping techniques, we demonstrate that when the switch is closed, full excitation transfer occurs as a propagating photon, whereas an open switch allows only partial transfer without distorting the shape of the emitted photon. Based on this switch mechanism, we present deterministic protocols for generating entangled states via single-photon routing across the network, such as Bell, Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger and W states. The feasibility of our approach is validated through numerical simulations of a three-node network, incorporating decoherence and photon loss effects. Our results indicate that high-fidelity entangled states can be realized employing the proposed quantum switches in current state-of-the-art platforms.