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arXiv:0812.3660 · Physical Review Letters

Alkaline-Earth-Metal Atoms as Few-Qubit Quantum Registers

Alexey Vyacheslavovich Gorshkov, Ana María Rey, Andrew J. Daley, Martin M. Boyd, J. Ye, P. Zoller, Mikhail D. Lukin

Published Mar 18, 2009• 155 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We propose and analyze a novel approach to quantum information processing, in which multiple qubits can be encoded and manipulated using electronic and nuclear degrees of freedom associated with individual alkaline-earth-metal atoms trapped in an optical lattice. Specifically, we describe how the qubits within each register can be individually manipulated and measured with subwavelength optical resolution. We also show how such few-qubit registers can be coupled to each other in optical superlattices via conditional tunneling to form a scalable quantum network. Finally, potential applications to quantum computation and precision measurements are discussed.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.102.110503

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We propose and analyze a novel approach to quantum information processing, in which multiple qubits can be encoded and manipulated using electronic and nuclear degrees of freedom associated with individual alkaline-earth-metal atoms trapped in an optical lattice. Specifically, we describe how the qubits within each register can be individually manipulated and measured with subwavelength optical resolution. We also show how such few-qubit registers can be coupled to each other in optical superlattices via conditional tunneling to form a scalable quantum network. Finally, potential applications to quantum computation and precision measurements are discussed.
We present a complete scheme for quantum information processing using the unique features of alkaline-earth-metal atoms. We show how two completely independent lattices can be formed for the 1S0 and 3P0 states, with one used as a storage lattice for qubits encoded on the nuclear spin, and the other as a transport lattice to move qubits and perform gate operations. We discuss how the 3P2 level can be used for addressing of individual qubits, and how collisional losses from metastable states can be used to perform gates via a lossy blockade mechanism.
Ultracold neutral atoms in optical lattices are rich systems for the investigation of many-body physics as well as for the implementation of quantum information processing. While traditionally alkali atoms were used for this research, in recent years alkaline-earth-like atoms have attracted considerable interest. This is due to their more complex but tractable internal structure and easily accessible transitions. Furthermore, alkaline-earth-like atoms have extremely narrow 1S→3P{}^1S\rightarrow{}^3P1S→3P intercombination transitions, which lend themselves for the implementation of next generation atomic clocks. In this dissertation, I show that exquisite control of alkaline-earth-like atoms can be reached with optical methods, and elucidate ways to use this controllability to further different aspects of research, mainly quantum information processing. Additionally, the control of alkaline-earth-like atoms is very interesting in many-body physics and the improvement of atomic clocks. Since heating usually degrades the performance of quantum gates, recooling of qubits is a necessity for the implementation of large scale quantum computers. Laser cooling has advantages over the usually used sympathetic cooling, given that it requires no additional atoms, which have to be controlled separately. However, for qubits stored in hyperfine states, as usually done in alkali atoms, laser cooling leads to optical pumping and therefore to loss of coherence. On the other hand, in the ground state, the nuclear spin of alkaline-earth-like atoms is decoupled from the electronic degrees of freedom. As I show in this dissertation, this allows for the storage of quantum information in the nuclear spin and laser cooling on the electronic degrees of freedom. The recooling protocol suggested here consists of two steps: resolved sideband cooling on the extremely narrow 1S0→3P0{}^1S_0\rightarrow {}^3P_01S0​→3P0​ clock transition and subsequent quenching on the much shorter lived 1P1{}^1P_11P1​ state. A magnetic field is used to overcome the hyperfine interaction in this excited state and thus ensures decoupling of the nuclear spin degrees of freedom during the quenching. The application of this magnetic field also allows for photon scattering on the 1P1{}^1P_11P1​ state, while preserving the nuclear spin, e. g. for electronic qubit detection. The manipulation of the scattering properties of neutral atoms is an important aspect of quantum control. In contrast to alkali atoms, whose broad linewidths cause large losses, this can be done with purely optical methods via the implementation of an optical Feshbach resonance for alkaline-earth-like atoms. Here, the scattering length resulting from the application of an optical Feshbach resonance on the 1S0→3P1{}^1S_0\rightarrow {}^3P_11S0​→3P1​ intercombination line, including hyperfine interaction and rotation is calculated for 171{}^{171}171Yb. Due to their different parities, the p-wave scattering length can be controlled independently from the s-wave scattering length, thus allowing for unprecedented control over the scattering properties of neutral atoms. Furthermore, I also show how optical Feshbach resonances in alkaline-earth-like atoms can be used together with the underlying quantum symmetry to implement collisional gates between nuclear-spin qubits over comparatively long ranges.
We propose and implement a lattice scheme for coherently manipulating atomic spins. Using a vector light shift and a superlattice structure, we demonstrate experimentally its capability on addressing spins in double wells and square plaquettes with subwavelength resolution. The quantum coherence of spin manipulations is verified through measuring atom tunneling and spin exchange dynamics. Our experiment presents a building block for engineering many-body quantum states in optical lattices for realizing quantum simulation and computation tasks.
We investigate how to create entangled states of ultracold atoms trapped in optical lattices by dynamically manipulating the shape of the lattice potential. We consider an additional potential (the superlattice) that allows both the splitting of each site into a double well potential, and control of the height of the potential barrier between sites. We use superlattice manipulations to perform entangling operations between neighbouring qubits encoded on the Zeeman levels of the atoms without having to perform transfers between the different vibrational states of the atoms. We show how to use superlattices to engineer many-body entangled states resilient to collective dephasing noise. Also, we present a method to realize a two-dimensional (2D) resource for measurement-based quantum computing via Bell-pair measurements. We analyse measurement networks that allow the execution of quantum algorithms while maintaining the resilience properties of the system throughout the computation.
The key challenge in experimental quantum information science is to identify isolated quantum mechanical systems with long coherence times that can be manipulated and coupled together in a scalable fashion. We describe the coherent manipulation of an individual electron spin and nearby individual nuclear spins to create a controllable quantum register. Using optical and microwave radiation to control an electron spin associated with the nitrogen vacancy (NV) color center in diamond, we demonstrated robust initialization of electron and nuclear spin quantum bits (qubits) and transfer of arbitrary quantum states between them at room temperature. Moreover, nuclear spin qubits could be well isolated from the electron spin, even during optical polarization and measurement of the electronic state. Finally, coherent interactions between individual nuclear spin qubits were observed and their excellent coherence properties were demonstrated. These registers can be used as a basis for scalable, optically coupled quantum information systems.