We present the design of a chiral photonic quantum link, where distant atoms interact by exchanging photons propagating in a single direction in free-space. This is achieved by coupling each atom in a laser-assisted process to an atomic array acting as a quantum phased-array antenna. This provides a basic building block for quantum networks in free space, i.e. without requiring cavities or nanostructures, which we illustrate with high-fidelity quantum state transfer protocols. Our setup can be implemented with neutral atoms using Rydberg-dressed interactions.
@article{arxiv.1802.05592,
title = {'Free-Space' Photonic Quantum Link and Chiral Quantum Optics},
author = {A. Grankin and P. O. Guimond and D. V. Vasilyev and B. Vermersch and P. Zoller},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1802.05592},
year = {2018}
}