Finite-range multiplexing enhances quantum key distribution via quantum repeaters

Quantum repeaters represent one possible way to achieve long-distance quantum key distribution. Collins et al. [O. A. Collins, S. D. Jenkins, A. Kuzmich, and T. A. B. Kennedy, Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 060502 (2007)] proposed multiplexing as a method to increase the repeater rate and to decrease the requirement of memory coherence time. Motivated by the experimental fact that long-range connections are practically demanding, in this paper we extend the original quantum repeater multiplexing protocol to the case of short-range connection. We derive analytical formulas for the repeater rate and we show that for short connection lengths it is possible to have most of the benefits of a full-range multiplexing protocol. Then we incorporate decoherence of quantum memories and we study the optimal matching for the Bell-state measurement protocol permitting us to minimize the memory requirements. Finally, we calculate the secret key rate and we show that the improvement via finite-range multiplexing is of the same order of magnitude as that via full-range multiplexing.