The integration of quantum computers and sensors into a quantum network opens a new frontier for quantum information science. We demonstrate high-fidelity entanglement between ytterbium-171 atoms -- the basis for state-of-the-art atomic quantum processors and optical atomic clocks -- and optical photons directly generated in the telecommunication wavelength band where loss in optical fiber is minimal. We entangle the nuclear spin of the atom with a single photon in the time bin basis, and find an atom measurement-corrected (raw) atom-photon Bell state fidelity of 0.950(9)±0.005(3)bound (0.90(1)±0.014(3)bound). Photon measurement errors contribute ≈0.037 to our infidelity and can be removed with straightforward upgrades. Additionally, by imaging our atom array onto an optical fiber array, we demonstrate a parallelized networking protocol that can provide an N-fold boost in the remote entanglement rate. Finally, we demonstrate the ability to preserve coherence on a memory qubit while performing networking operations on communication qubits. Our work is a major step towards the integration of atomic processors and optical clocks into a high-rate or long-distance quantum network.
@article{arxiv.2502.17406,
title = {Parallelized telecom quantum networking with a ytterbium-171 atom array},
author = {Lintao Li and Xiye Hu and Zhubing Jia and William Huie and Won Kyu Calvin Sun and Aakash and Yuhao Dong and Narisak Hiri-O-Tuppa and Jacob P. Covey},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2502.17406},
year = {2025}
}