Alexander Burgers, Princeton University

"Advancing Quantum Science with Ytterbium Atom Arrays"

Abstract: Neutral atom arrays are a rapidly developing platform for quantum science. Rydberg-mediated entanglement between atoms has led to numerous advances in quantum computing and quantum simulation using this platform. An emerging frontier within this field is the use of alkaline earth-like atoms (AEAs) such as ytterbium (Yb). The rich internal structure of these atoms affords numerous unique capabilities, including efficient Doppler cooling, optical clock transitions for metrology applications, efficient control of Rydberg gate operations using light shifts from ion core transitions, and the capability to encode qubits in the nuclear spin of the J = 0 electronic ground state of fermionic AEA isotopes. In this talk I will describe our experimental platform for trapping and manipulating Yb atoms in optical tweezer arrays. I will discuss our recent results utilizing transitions in the Yb+ ion core to generate light shifts that control excitations to the Rydberg state, which can be used for efficient local control of quantum gate operations [1]. I will then present our work demonstrating a universal set of quantum gate operations, including two-qubit gates through the Rydberg state, using qubits encoded in the nuclear spin of 171Yb [2]. We observe long qubit coherence times, T2* = 1.24 s, as well as high-fidelity single-qubit operations, F1Q = 0.99959. These results mark the first such demonstration of a universal set of quantum gates for nuclear qubits in AEAs and lay the foundation for scalable quantum computing architectures with Yb atom arrays. I will conclude with an overview of my proposed research program investigating collective atomic dynamics in arrays of Yb atoms and coupling these arrays to nanophotonic structures.

[1] A P Burgers et al. arXiv: 2110.06902 (2021)
[2] S Ma*, A P Burgers* et al. arXiv: 2112.06799 (2021)