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arXiv:2105.15047 · Physical Review Research

D1 magic wavelength tweezers for scaling atom arrays

Mohammad Mujahid Aliyu, Luheng Zhao, Xiu Quan Quek, Krishna Chaitanya Yellapragada, Huanqian Loh

Published Oct 21, 2021• 24 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Efficient trapping and detection of single atoms in optical tweezers are important for realizing atom arrays, a promising platform for quantum simulation and quantum information processing. However, the scaling up of atom arrays can be impeded by detrimental light shifts induced by the tweezer trap, making it challenging to cool and image single atoms. Here, we report an order-of-magnitude increase in the scalability of $^{23}\mathrm{Na}$ atom arrays by using ${D}_{1}$ magic wavelength tweezers to reduce the required tweezer power per trap. ${D}_{1}$ magic wavelengths have been previously predicted to exist for all the alkali atoms but are not yet observed to date. We first experimentally confirm a ${D}_{1}$ magic wavelength that is predicted to lie at 615.87 nm, which we then use to trap and image single atoms without having to modulate the trapping and imaging light intensities. We further demonstrate that the mean loading efficiency remains as high as 80.0(6)% for a single trap and 74.2(7)% for a one-dimensional array of eight atoms. The methods reported here are applicable to all the alkalis, including those that are attractive candidates for dipolar molecule assembly, Rydberg dressing, or are fermionic in nature.

DOI
10.1103/physrevresearch.3.043059

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Efficient trapping and detection of single atoms in optical tweezers are important for realizing atom arrays, a promising platform for quantum simulation and quantum information processing. However, the scaling up of atom arrays can be impeded by detrimental light shifts induced by the tweezer trap, making it challenging to cool and image single atoms. Here, we report an order-of-magnitude increase in the scalability of 23Na^{23}\mathrm{Na}23Na atom arrays by using D1{D}_{1}D1​ magic wavelength tweezers to reduce the required tweezer power per trap. D1{D}_{1}D1​ magic wavelengths have been previously predicted to exist for all the alkali atoms but are not yet observed to date. We first experimentally confirm a D1{D}_{1}D1​ magic wavelength that is predicted to lie at 615.87 nm, which we then use to trap and image single atoms without having to modulate the trapping and imaging light intensities. We further demonstrate that the mean loading efficiency remains as high as 80.0(6)% for a single trap and 74.2(7)% for a one-dimensional array of eight atoms. The methods reported here are applicable to all the alkalis, including those that are attractive candidates for dipolar molecule assembly, Rydberg dressing, or are fermionic in nature.
We report the use of magic wavelength tweezers to trap and image single atoms on the D1 transition with 80.0(6)% efficiency. Such magic wavelengths for the D1 transition have been predicted for the alkali atoms but are not yet demonstrated to date. Here, we confirm a D1 magic wavelength that is predicted to lie at 615.87 nm for 23^{23}23Na, which we then use to trap and image individual atoms 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 our high loading probabilities and the absence of trap intensity modulation, we achieve an order-of-magnitude reduction on the tweezer laser power requirements and a corresponding increase in the scalability of atom arrays. The methods reported here are applicable to a wide variety of atoms, including those that can be manipulated with different Feshbach resonances or assembled into dipolar molecules.
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 time keeping. In this Letter, we present a technique to trap individual alkaline-earth-like ytterbium (Yb) atoms in optical tweezer arrays. The narrow ^{1}S_{0}-^{3}P_{1} intercombination line is used for both cooling and imaging in a magic-wavelength optical tweezer at 532 nm. The low Doppler temperature allows for imaging near the saturation intensity, resulting in a very high atom detection fidelity. We demonstrate the imaging fidelity concretely by observing rare (<1 in 10^{4} images) spontaneous quantum jumps into and out of a metastable state. We also demonstrate stochastic loading of atoms into a two-dimensional, 144-site tweezer array. This platform will enable advances in quantum information processing, quantum simulation, and precision measurement. The demonstrated narrow-line Doppler imaging may also be applied in tweezer arrays or quantum gas microscopes using other atoms with similar transitions, such as erbium and dysprosium.
We present the first successful trapping of single erbium atoms in an array of optical tweezers. Using a single narrow-line optical transition, we achieve deep cooling for direct tweezer loading, pairwise ejection, and continuous imaging without additional recoil suppression techniques. Our tweezer wavelength choice enables us to reach the magic trapping condition by tuning the ellipticity of the trapping light. Additionally, we implement an ultrafast high-fidelity fluorescence imaging scheme using a broad transition, allowing time-resolved study of the tweezer population dynamics from many to single atoms during light-assisted collisions. In particular, we extract a pair-ejection rate that qualitatively agrees with the semiclassical predictions by the Gallagher-Pritchard model. This Letter represents a promising starting point for the exploration of erbium as a powerful resource for quantum simulation in optical tweezers.
Subwavelength atomic tweezer arrays, in which atoms can be positioned at distances smaller than their emission wavelength, have been proposed as a versatile platform to study collective emission phenomena, such as superradiance and subradiance. Experimentally, the realization of such arrays has been a challenge as typical emission wavelengths in the visible or near-infrared are short compared to typical tweezer spacings in the micrometer range. Here, we use 88^{88}88Sr atoms in optical tweezer arrays to access a mid-infrared transition at 2,923 nm (5s5p 3P2→ 5s4d 3D35s5p\:^{3}P_{2} \rightarrow\, 5s4d\:^{3}D_{3}5s5p3P2​→5s4d3D3​). We identify a magic trapping wavelength at 597.14(3) nm and demonstrate single-atom preparation and imaging with high fidelity. In addition, using 2,923 nm light, we demonstrate resolved-sideband cooling of tweezer-trapped strontium. Beyond enabling studies of collective emission phenomena in flexible arrangements of atoms, our platform opens novel opportunities for dipolar many-body physics and enhanced control over Rydberg dynamics and the strontium fine-structure qubit.
We report the preparation and observation of single atoms of dysprosium in arrays of optical tweezers with a wavelength of 532 nm, imaged on the intercombination line at 626 nm. We use the anisotropic light shift specific to lanthanides and in particular a large difference in tensor and vector polarizabilities between the ground and excited states to tune the differential light shift and produce tweezers in near-magic or magic polarization. This allows us to find a regime where single atoms can be trapped and imaged. Using the tweezer array toolbox to manipulate lanthanides will open new research directions for quantum physics studies by taking advantage of their rich spectrum, large spin, and magnetic dipole moment.
We report on the realization of a platform for trapping and manipulating individual 88Sr atoms in optical tweezers. A first cooling stage based on a blue shielded magneto-optical trap (MOT) operating on the |1S0⟩→|1P1⟩ transition at 461 nm enables us to trap approximately 4 × 106 atoms at a temperature of 6.8 mK. Further cooling is achieved in a narrow-line red MOT using the |1S0⟩→|3P1⟩ intercombination transition at 689 nm, bringing 5 × 105 atoms down to 5μK and reaching a density of 4 × 1010 cm3. Atoms are then loaded into 813 nm tweezer arrays generated by crossed acousto-optic deflectors and tightly focused onto the atoms with a high-numerical-aperture objective. Through light-assisted collision processes we achieve the collisional blockade, which leads to single-atom occupancy with a probability of about 50%. The trapped atoms are detected via fluorescence imaging with a fidelity of 99.986(6)%, while maintaining a survival probability of 97(2)%. The release-and-recapture measurement provides a temperature of 12.92(5)μK for the atoms in the tweezers, and the ultra-high-vacuum environment ensures a vacuum lifetime higher than 7 min. These results demonstrate a robust alkaline-earth tweezer platform that combines efficient loading, cooling, and high-fidelity detection, providing the essential building blocks for scalable quantum simulation and quantum information processing with Sr atoms.