Entanglement of two quantum memories via metropolitan-scale fibers

Quantum internet will enable a number of revolutionary applications, such as distributed quantum computing, large-scale quantum communication and cooperative operation of atomic clocks. It relies on entanglement of remote quantum memories over long distances. Yet, maximal reported distance achieved so far was merely about 1 km and experimental challenges for long distance remains. Here, by using cavity enhancement to create bright atom-photon entanglement and harnessing quantum frequency conversion to shift the atomic wavelength to telecom, we create atom-atom entanglement over 22 km field-deployed fibers via two-photon interference. Moreover, by exploiting a concatenated phase-locking scheme, we use single-photon interference to entangle two atomic ensembles by transmission over 50 km coiled fibers. Our work demonstrates full-functional segments for atomic quantum networks at metropolitan scale, and pave the way towards establishing atomic entanglement over many nodes and over much longer distance in a scalable way.