A quantum key generation system including two photon detector units, two photon entanglement chains extending between the two photon detector units, and a plurality of multicore fiber links each including at least two non-uniform cores structurally configured to provide non-uniform photon propagation delay. Each photon entanglement chain includes at least one quantum repeater structurally configured to entangle a pair of photons and first and second terminating quantum memories optically coupled the quantum repeater using the multicore fiber links such that photons received by the first and the second terminating quantum memories are entangled with photons entangled by the quantum repeater. The first and second terminating quantum memories of each of the two photon entanglement chains form first and second cross-chain quantum repeaters, and the first and the second photon detector units are structurally configured to receive the measurable entangled particles generated by the first and second cross-chain quantum repeaters, respectively.