We present a practical approach for interfacing light with a two-dimensional atomic tweezer array. Typical paraxial fields are poorly matched to the array's multi-diffraction-order radiation pattern, thus severely limiting the interface coupling efficiency. Instead, we propose to design a field mode that naturally couples to the array: it consists of a unique superposition of multiple beams corresponding to the array's diffraction orders. This composite mode can be generated from a single Gaussian beam using standard free-space optics, including spatial light modulators and a single objective lens. For a triangular array with lattice spacing about twice the wavelength, all diffraction angles remain below 35 degrees, making the scheme compatible with standard objectives of numerical aperture NA <= 0.7. Our analytical theory and scattering simulations reveal that the interface efficiency r0 for quantum information tasks scales favorably with the array atom number N: reaching >0.99 (>0.9999) for N = 149 (N approximately 1000) and scaling as 1 - r0 scales as 1/N for large N. The scheme is robust to optical imperfections and atomic-position errors, offering a viable path for quantum light-matter applications and state readout in current tweezer-array platforms.
Single neutral atoms trapped in optical tweezers and laser-coupled to Rydberg states provide a fast and flexible platform to generate configurable atomic arrays for quantum simulation. The platform is especially suited to study quantum spin systems in various geometries. However, for experiments requiring continuous trapping, inhomogeneous light shifts induced by the trapping potential and temperature broadening impose severe limitations. Here we show how Raman sideband cooling allows one to overcome those limitations, thus, preparing the stage for Rydberg dressing in tweezer arrays.
As it has been demonstrated that trapped ion systems have unmatched long-lived quantum-bit (qubit) coherence and can support high-fidelity quantum manipulations, how to scale up the system size becomes an inevitable task for practical purposes. In this work, we theoretically analyse the physical limitation of scalability with a trapped ion array, and propose a feasible scheme of architecture that in principle allows an arbitrary number of ion qubits, for which the overhead only scales linearly with the system size. This scheme relies on the combined ideas of a trap architecture of tunable size…
Arrays of single ultracold molecules promise to be a powerful platform for many applications ranging from quantum simulation to precision measurement. Here we report on the creation of an optical tweezer array of single ultracold CaF molecules. By utilizing light-induced collisions during the laser cooling process, we trap single molecules. The high densities attained inside the tweezer traps have also enabled us to observe in the absence of light molecule-molecule collisions of laser cooled molecules for the first time.
Engineering controllable, strongly interacting many-body quantum systems is at the frontier of quantum simulation and quantum information processing. Arrays of laser-cooled neutral atoms in optical tweezers have emerged as a promising platform, because of their flexibility and the potential for strong interactions via Rydberg states. Existing neutral atom array experiments utilize alkali atoms, but alkaline-earth atoms offer many advantages in terms of coherence and control, and also open the door to new applications in precision measurement and timekeeping. In this work, we present a techniqu…
We use optical tweezers based on time-multiplexed acousto-optic deflectors to trap ultra-cold cesium atoms in one-dimensional arrays of atomic ensembles. For temperatures between 2.5 $μ$K and 50 nK we study the maximal time between optical tweezer pulses that retains the number of atoms in a single trap. This time provides an estimate on the maximal number of sites in an array of time-multiplexed optical tweezers. We demonstrate evaporative cooling of atoms in arrays of up to 25 optical tweezer traps and the preparation of atoms in a box potential. Additionally, we demonstrate three different …
Due to their intrinsic electric dipole moments and rich internal structure, ultracold polar molecules are promising candidate qubits for quantum computing and for a wide range of quantum simulations. Their long-lived molecular rotational states form robust qubits while the long-range dipolar interaction between molecules provides quantum entanglement. Using a molecular optical tweezer array, single molecules can be moved and separately addressed for qubit operations using optical and microwave fields, creating a scalable quantum platform. Here, we demonstrate long-range dipolar spin-exchange i…
We present a novel platform of optical tweezers which combines rapid prototyping of user-definable microlens arrays with spatial light modulation (SLM) for dynamical control of each associated tweezer spot. Applying femtosecond direct laser writing, we manufacture a microlens array of 97 lenslets exhibiting quadratic and hexagonal packing and a transition region between the two. We use a digital micromirror device (DMD) to adapt the light field illuminating the individual lenslets and present a detailed characterization of the full optical system. In an unprecedented fashion, this novel platfo…
We report on the realization of large assembled arrays of more than 300 single $^{87}$Rb atoms trapped in optical tweezers in a cryogenic environment at $\sim4$~K. For arrays with $N_{\rm a}=324$ atoms, the assembly process results in defect-free arrays in $\sim37\%$ of the realizations. To achieve this high assembling efficiency, we equalize the loading probability of the traps within the array using a closed-loop optimization of the power of each optical tweezers, based on the analysis of the fluorescence time-traces of atoms loaded in the traps.
Defect-free atom arrays are an important precursor for quantum information processing and quantum simulation. Yet, large-scale defect-free atom arrays can be challenging to realize, due to the losses encountered when rearranging stochastically loaded atoms to achieve a desired target array. Here, we demonstrate a novel parallel rearrangement algorithm that uses multiple mobile tweezers to independently sort and compress atom arrays in a way that naturally avoids atom collisions. With a high degree of parallelism, our algorithm offers a reduced move complexity compared to both single-tweezer al…
We propose an experimental architecture where an array of optical tweezers affords site-dependent control over the confining potential of a conventional radio-frequency ion trap. The site-dependent control enables programmable manipulation of phonon modes of ions, with many potential applications in quantum information processing (QIP) and thermodynamics. We describe protocols for programming the array of optical tweezers to attain a set of target phonon modes with high accuracy. We propose applications of such controls in simulating quantum thermodynamics of a particle of programmable effecti…
We prepare high-filling two-component arrays of up to fifty fermionic atoms in optical tweezers, with the atoms in the ground motional state of each tweezer. Using a stroboscopic technique, we configure the arrays in various two-dimensional geometries with negligible Floquet heating. Full spin- and density-resolved readout of individual sites allows us to post-select near-zero entropy initial states for fermionic quantum simulation. We prepare a correlated state in a two-by-two tunnel-coupled Hubbard plaquette, demonstrating all the building blocks for realizing a programmable fermionic quantu…
We show that with a purely blue-detuned cooling mechanism we can densely load single neutral atoms into large arrays of shallow optical tweezers. With this ability, more efficient assembly of larger ordered arrays will be possible - hence expanding the number of particles available for bottom-up quantum simulation and computation with atoms. Using Lambda-enhanced grey molasses on the D1 line of 87Rb, we achieve loading into a single 0.63 mK trap with 89% probability, and we further extend this loading to 100 atoms at 80% probability. The loading behavior agrees with a model of consecutive ligh…
We report on improvements extending the capabilities of the atom-by-atom assembler described in [Barredo et al., Science 354, 1021 (2016)] that we use to create fully-loaded target arrays of more than 100 single atoms in optical tweezers, starting from randomly-loaded, half-filled initial arrays. We describe four variants of the sorting algorithm that (i) allow decrease the number of moves needed for assembly and (ii) enable the assembly of arbitrary, non-regular target arrays. We finally demonstrate experimentally the performance of this enhanced assembler for a variety of target arrays.
Fully internal and motional state controlled and individually manipulable polar molecules are desirable for many quantum science applications leveraging the rich state space and intrinsic interactions of molecules. While prior efforts at assembling molecules from their constituent atoms individually trapped in optical tweezers achieved such a goal for exactly one molecule, here we extend the technique to an array of five molecules, unlocking the ability to study molecular interactions. We detail the technical challenges and solutions inherent in scaling this system up. With parallel preparatio…
We present programmable two-dimensional arrays of microscopic atomic ensembles consisting of more than 400 sites with nearly uniform filling and small atom number fluctuations. Our approach involves direct projection of light patterns from a digital micromirror device with high spatial resolution onto an optical pancake trap acting as a reservoir. This makes it possible to load large arrays of tweezers in a single step with high occupation numbers and low power requirements per tweezer. Each atomic ensemble is confined to $\sim 1\,μ$m$^3$ with a controllable occupation from 20 to 200 atoms and…
Optical clocks based on atoms and ions achieve exceptional precision and accuracy, with applications to relativistic geodesy, tests of relativity, and searches for dark matter. Achieving such performance requires balancing competing desirable features, including a high particle number, isolation of atoms from collisions, insensitivity to motional effects, and high duty-cycle operation. Here we demonstrate a new platform based on arrays of ultracold strontium atoms confined within optical tweezers that realizes a novel combination of these features by providing a scalable platform for isolated …
D1 magic wavelengths have been predicted for the alkali atoms but are not yet observed to date. We experimentally confirm a D1 magic wavelength that is predicted to lie at 615.87 nm for $^{23}$Na, which we then use to trap and image individual atoms with 80.0(6)% efficiency and without having to modulate the trapping and imaging light intensities. We further demonstrate that the mean loading efficiency remains as high as 74.2(7)% for a 1D array of eight atoms. Leveraging on the absence of trap intensity modulation and lower trap depths afforded by the D1 light, we achieve an order-of-magnitude…
We report on the trapping of single Rb atoms in tunable arrays of optical tweezers in a cryogenic environment at $\sim 4$ K. We describe the design and construction of the experimental apparatus, based on a custom-made, UHV compatible, closed-cycle cryostat with optical access. We demonstrate the trapping of single atoms in cryogenic arrays of optical tweezers, with lifetimes in excess of $\sim6000$ s, despite the fact that the vacuum system has not been baked out. These results open the way to large arrays of single atoms with extended coherence, for applications in large-scale quantum simula…
Neutral atom arrays are a rapidly developing platform for quantum science. In this work, we demonstrate a universal set of quantum gate operations on a new type of neutral atom qubit: a nuclear spin in an alkaline earth-like atom (AEA), $^{171}$Yb. We present techniques for cooling, trapping and imaging using a newly discovered magic trapping wavelength at $λ= 486.78$ nm. We implement qubit initialization, readout, and single-qubit gates, and observe long qubit lifetimes, $T_1 \approx 20$ s and $T^*_2 = 1.24(5)$ s, and a single-qubit operation fidelity $\mathcal{F}_{1Q} = 0.99959(6)$. We also …
Arrays of neutral-atom qubits in optical tweezers are a promising platform for quantum computation. Despite experimental progress, a major roadblock for realizing neutral atom quantum computation is the qubit initialization. Here we propose that supersymmetry -- a theoretical framework developed in particle physics -- can be used for ultra-high fidelity initialization of neutral-atom qubits. We show that a single atom can be deterministically prepared in the vibrational ground state of an optical tweezer by adiabatically extracting all excited atoms to a supersymmetric auxiliary tweezer. The s…
Fast and Coherent Transfer of Atomic Qubits in Optical Tweezers using Fiber Array Architecture
Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院精密测量科学与技术创新研究院武汉物理与数学研究所）；University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学）
Scalable, local control over gate operations is an outstanding challenge in the field of quantum computing and programmable quantum simulation with Rydberg atom arrays. One approach is to use a global field to excite atoms to the Rydberg state, and tune individual atoms in and out of resonance via local light shifts. In this work, we point out that photon scattering errors from light shifts can be significantly reduced if the light shift is applied to the Rydberg state instead of the ground state, which can be realized in Rydberg states of alkaline earth atoms using optical transitions in the …
We demonstrate single-atom resolved imaging with a survival probability of $0.99932(8)$ and a fidelity of $0.99991(1)$, enabling us to perform repeated high-fidelity imaging of single atoms in tweezers for thousands of times. We further observe lifetimes under laser cooling of more than seven minutes, an order of magnitude longer than in previous tweezer studies. Experiments are performed with strontium atoms in $813.4~\text{nm}$ tweezer arrays, which is at a magic wavelength for the clock transition. Tuning to this wavelength is enabled by off-magic Sisyphus cooling on the intercombination li…
