We propose a hybrid quantum repeater based on ancillary coherent field states
and material qubits coupled to optical cavities. For this purpose, resonant
qubit-field interactions and postselective field measurements are determined
which are capable of realizing all necessary two-qubit operations for the
actuation of the quantum repeater. We explore both theoretical and experimental
possibilities of generating near-maximally-entangled qubit pairs (F>0.999)
over long distances. It is shown that our scheme displays moderately low
repeater rates, between 5×10−4 and 23 pairs per second, over
distances up to 900 km, and it relies completely on current technology of
cavity quantum electrodynamics.Comment: 18 pages, 13 figures, corrected according to published Erratu