We introduce an alternative approach for the design of quantum repeaters based on generating entangled states of growing size. The scheme utilizes quantum merging operations, also known as fusion type-I operations, that allow the reintegration and reuse of entanglement. Unlike conventional swapping-based protocols, our method preserves entanglement after failed operations, thereby reducing waiting times, enabling higher rates, and introducing enhanced flexibility in the communication requests. Through proof-of-principle analysis, we demonstrate the advantages of this approach over standard repeater protocols, highlighting its potential for practical quantum communication scenarios.
@article{arxiv.2502.04450,
title = {Merging-Based Quantum Repeater},
author = {Maria Flors Mor-Ruiz and Jorge Miguel-Ramiro and Julius Wallnöfer and Tim Coopmans and Wolfgang Dür},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2502.04450},
year = {2025}
}