[en] Entanglement is the essence of most quantum information processes. For instance, it is used as a resource for quantum teleportation or perfectly secure classical communication. Unfortunately, inevitable noise in the quantum channel will typically affect the distribution of entanglement. Owing to fundamental principles, common procedures used in classical communication, such as amplification, cannot be applied. Therefore, the fidelity and rate of transmission will be limited by the length of the channel. Quantum repeaters were proposed to avoid the exponential decay with the distance and to permit long-distance quantum communication. Long-distance quantum communication constitutes the framework for the results presented in this thesis. The main question addressed in this thesis is how the performance of quantum repeaters are affected by various sources of decoherence. Moreover, what can be done against decoherence to improve the performance of the repeater. We are especially interested in the so-called hybrid quantum repeater; however, many of the results presented here are sufficiently general and may be applied to other systems as well. First, we present a detailed entanglement generation rate analysis for the quantum repeater. In contrast to what is commonly found in the literature, our analysis is general and analytical. Moreover, various sources of errors are considered, such as imperfect local two-qubit operations and imperfect memories, making it possible to determine the requirements for memory decoherence times. More specifically, we apply our formulae in the context of a hybrid quantum repeater and we show that in a possible experimental scenario, our hybrid system can create near-maximally entangled pairs over a distance of 1280 km at rates of the order of 100 Hz. Furthermore, aiming to protect the system against different types of errors, we analyze the hybrid quantum repeater when supplemented by quantum error correction. We propose a scheme for combating photon losses in the channel using repetition codes, as well as for suppressing the e ect of finite memory decoherence times and imperfect two-qubit gates. In the latter case, we shall also use codes more complex than the repetition codes, namely, the Calderbank-Shor-Steane codes. Finally, in the context of Quantum Key Distribution, we analyze the secret key rates obtainable by the hybrid repeater utilizing the formalism derived for the entanglement generation rate analysis.