An optical-fibre-integrated buffer for packet-switched quantum networks

Quantum Physics arXiv:2608.04093 (quant-ph) [Submitted on 4 Aug 2026] Title:An optical-fibre-integrated buffer for packet-switched quantum networks Authors:Daniel Spegel-Lexne, Joakim Argillander, Martin Clason, Åsa Claesson, Kenny Hey Tow, Gustavo Lima, João M. B. Pereira, Guilherme B. Xavier View a PDF of the paper titled An optical-fibre-integrated buffer for packet-switched quantum networks, by Daniel Spegel-Lexne and 7 other authors View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract:Packet-switched quantum networks require buffers that can delay qubit payloads while routing information is read out in real time. Previous approaches have not provided this functionality in a fully fibre-integrated architecture compatible with telecom infrastructure. Here we demonstrate an optical-fibre-integrated buffer, based on a recirculating loop and a fibre storage line, in which the storage time of a polarisation-encoded qubit payload is determined by readout of an attached packet header. The key component behind this achievement is an ultra-low-loss poled fibre phase modulator, which provides fast, polarisation-insensitive switching directly in fibre and allows header and payload to be processed within the buffer. We demonstrate storage and retrieval of polarisation-encoded qubit payloads for storage times up to 47 $\mu$s, with an average quantum bit error rate of 1.8% together with stable operation over several hours. These results establish a practical fibre-based architecture for packet-level quantum network buffering that can easily integrate into the current telecommunication infrastructure opening up new paths for deployment of the quantum internet. Comments: Subjects: Quantum Physics (quant-ph); Optics (physics.optics) Cite as: arXiv:2608.04093 [quant-ph] (or arXiv:2608.04093v1 [quant-ph] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2608.04093 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration) Submission history From: Guilherme Xavier [view email] [v1] Tue, 4 Aug 2026 18:00:03 UTC (2,414 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled An optical-fibre-integrated buffer for packet-switched quantum networks, by Daniel Spegel-Lexne and 7 other authorsView PDFHTML (experimental)TeX Source view license Current browse context: quant-ph new | recent | 2026-08 Change to browse by: physics physics.optics References & Citations INSPIRE HEP NASA ADSGoogle Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Loading... BibTeX formatted citation × loading... Data provided by: Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer (What is the Explorer?) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers (What is Connected Papers?) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps (What is Litmaps?) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations (What are Smart Citations?) Code, Data, Media Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv Toggle alphaXiv (What is alphaXiv?) Links to Code Toggle CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers (What is CatalyzeX?) DagsHub Toggle DagsHub (What is DagsHub?) GotitPub Toggle Gotit.pub (What is GotitPub?) Huggingface Toggle Hugging Face (What is Huggingface?) ScienceCast Toggle ScienceCast (What is ScienceCast?) Demos Demos Replicate Toggle Replicate (What is Replicate?) Spaces Toggle Hugging Face Spaces (What is Spaces?) Spaces Toggle TXYZ.AI (What is TXYZ.AI?) Related Papers Recommenders and Search Tools Link to Influence Flower Influence Flower (What are Influence Flowers?) Core recommender toggle CORE Recommender (What is CORE?) Author Venue Institution Topic About arXivLabs arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs. Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax (What is MathJax?)