Distributed neutral atom quantum network with atomic ensemble antenna

Single neutral atoms in optical tweezer arrays have emerged as a powerful platform for realizing high-fidelity intermediate scale quantum computing in a local quantum node, but connecting remote neutral atom nodes through photons faces significant technical challenges due to the weak atom-light interaction and randomly scattering photon directions. On the other hand, cold atomic ensemble is known for its strong atom-light interaction and crucial role for realizing long-distance quantum entanglement. Here, we design a quantum network architecture in which cold atom ensembles with strong atom-light interactions act as quantum antennas, interfacing single-atom qubits with flying photons to enable high-efficiency atom-photon entanglement generation—analogous to the role of antennas in classical communication. Using realistic experimental parameters, we estimate an efficiency of more than 60% for generating atom-photon entanglement, and more than 10% for generating atom-atom entanglement. This is comparable to state-of-the-art cavity-based schemes but with a simpler experimental setup and greater tunability in free space. Such local communication qubits can interact with other single atom memory/computation qubits, allowing the generation of multipartite entanglement for large scale distributed quantum computing. Our approach leverages the complementary strengths of single-atom qubits for computation and cold atomic ensembles for networking, paving the way for large-scale distributed quantum computing and sensing.