Indistinguishable photons from a trapped-ion quantum network node

Abstract

Trapped atomic ions embedded in optical cavities are a promising platform to enable long-distance quantum networks and their most far-reaching applications. Here we achieve and analyze photon indistinguishability in a telecom-converted ion-cavity system. First, two-photon interference of cavity photons at their ion-resonant wavelength is observed and found to reach the limits set by spontaneous emission. Second, this limit is shown to be preserved after a two-step frequency conversion replicating a distributed scenario, in which the cavity photons are converted to the telecom $C$ band and then back to the original wavelength. The achieved interference visibility and photon efficiency would allow for the distribution and practical verification of entanglement between ion-qubit registers separated by several tens of kilometers.