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arXiv:2204.07788 · Physical Review A

Simple, passive design for large optical trap arrays for single atoms

Preston Huft, Yunheung Song, Trent Graham, Kais Jooya, S. Deshpande, Changfeng Fang, Mikhail A. Kats, Mark E. Saffman

Published Jun 27, 2022• 40 citations

Abstract

We present an approach for trapping cold atoms in a two-dimensional (2D) optical trap array generated with a $4f$ filtering scheme and custom transmission mask without any active device. The approach can be used to generate arrays of bright or dark traps, or both simultaneously with a single wavelength for forming two-species traps. We demonstrate the design by creating a 2D array of 1225 dark trap sites, where single Cs atoms are loaded into regions of near-zero intensity in an approximately Gaussian profile trap. Moreover, we demonstrate a simple solution to the problem of out-of-focus trapped atoms, which occurs due to the Talbot effect in periodic optical lattices. Using a high power yet low cost spectrally and spatially broadband laser, out-of-focus interference is mitigated, leading to near perfect removal of Talbot plane traps.

DOI: 10.1103/physreva.105.063111

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We present an approach for trapping cold atoms in a two-dimensional (2D) optical trap array generated with a

4f

filtering scheme and custom transmission mask without any active device. The approach can be used to generate arrays of bright or dark traps, or both simultaneously with a single wavelength for forming two-species traps. We demonstrate the design by creating a 2D array of 1225 dark trap sites, where single Cs atoms are loaded into regions of near-zero intensity in an approximately Gaussian profile trap. Moreover, we demonstrate a simple solution to the problem of out-of-focus trapped atoms, which occurs due to the Talbot effect in periodic optical lattices. Using a high power yet low cost spectrally and spatially broadband laser, out-of-focus interference is mitigated, leading to near perfect removal of Talbot plane traps.

We report the designs and the fabrication of optical intensity masks which enable trapping of two-dimensional arrays of cooled atoms of two atomic species, using single laser. Compared to previous realizations using active optical components, e.g., spatial light modulators, these passive optical masks reduce the complexity of neutral-atom experiments. The optical intensity masks are easily scalable to enable the trapping of large arrays of single atoms, enabling future applications in quantum sensing, networking, and computing.

We demonstrate trapping of individual rubidium (Rb) and cesium (Cs) atoms in an interleaved array of bright tweezers and dark bottle-beam traps, using a microfabricated optical element illuminated by a single-laser beam and a 4 f system with spatial filtering. Our approach exploits the opposite-sign dynamic polarizabilities of Rb and Cs, ensuring that each species is exclusively trapped in either bright or dark sites. The passive optical mask creates optimal trap depths for both species using three transmittance levels while minimizing the optical phase difference, implemented using a variable-thickness absorbing layer of amorphous germanium. This trapping architecture achieves atom loading rates close to 50% while reducing system complexity compared to conventional methods using active optoelectronic components and/or multiple-laser wavelengths.

We describe a blue-detuned optical lattice for atom trapping which is intrinsically two-dimensional, while providing three-dimensional atom localization. The lattice is insensitive to optical phase fluctuations since it does not depend on field interference between distinct optical beams. The array is created using an arrangement of weakly overlapping Gaussian beams that creates a two-dimensional array of dark traps which are suitable for magic trapping of ground and Rydberg states. We analyze the spatial localization that can be achieved and demonstrate trapping and detection of single Cs atoms in 6- and 49-site two-dimensional arrays.

We first calculated the diffraction intensity distributions of the Dammann gratings illuminated by Gaussian light wave. The empirical equations were deduced by numerical calculations to calculate the parameters, such as the spatial period, the maximum intensity, and the maximum intensity gradient, of the optical trap array composed by a set of Dammann gratings and a focus lens. Thus, a novel type of optical trap array for trapping cold atoms (or molecules) was proposed and its features were discussed. The results showed the optical trap array with very short period could be generated. High optical dipole potential could be presented so as to have strong attractive force to the atoms to form atomic optical lattices of high lattice density. Compared with the optical lattices formed by standing wave interferences of CO2 laser, there are many unique advantages of which are formed by Dammann gratings.

Metasurfaces made of subwavelength silicon nanopillars provide unparalleled capacity to manipulate light, and have emerged as one of the leading platforms for developing integrated photonic devices. In this study, we report on a compact, passive approach based on planar metasurface optics to generate large optical trap arrays. The unique configuration is achieved with a meta-hologram to convert a single incident laser beam into an array of individual beams, followed up with a metalens to form multiple laser foci for single rubidium atom trapping. We experimentally demonstrate two-dimensional arrays of 5 × 5 and 25 × 25 at the wavelength of 830 nm, validating the capability and scalability of our metasurface design. Beam waists ∼1.5 µm, spacings (about 15 µm), and low trap depth variations (8%) of relevance to quantum control for an atomic array are achieved in a robust and efficient fashion. The presented work highlights a compact, stable, and scalable trap array platform well-suitable for Rydberg-state mediated quantum gate operations, which will further facilitate advances in neutral atom quantum computing.