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arXiv:2412.15173 · Physical Review Applied

Fast neutral-atom transport and transfer between optical tweezers

Cristina Cicali, Martino Calzavara, Eloisa Cuestas, Tommaso Calarco, Robert Zeier, Felix Motzoi

Published Jul 14, 2025• 10 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We study the optimization of the transport and transfer of neutral atoms between optical tweezers, both critical steps in the implementation of quantum computers and simulators. We analyze four experimentally relevant pulse shapes (piecewise linear, piecewise quadratic, minimum jerk, and a combination of linear and minimum jerk), and we also develop a protocol using shortcuts-to-adiabaticity (STA) methods to crucially incorporate the time-dependent effects of static traps. By computing a measure of the final transport error and two measures of the heating during transport, we show that our proposed STA protocol comprehensively outperforms all the experimentally inspired pulses. After further optimizing the pulse shapes, we find a lower bound on the protocol duration, compatible with the time at which the vibrational excitations exceed half of the states hosted by the moving tweezer. This lower bound is at least eight times faster than the one reported in recent experiments, which highlights the importance of including and optimizing the transfer from and to static traps, which may be the largest bottleneck to speed. Finally, our STA results demonstrate that a modulation in the depth of the moving tweezer designed to time-dependently counteract the effect of the static traps is key to reducing errors and reducing the pulse duration. To motivate the implementation of our STA pulses in future experiments, we provide a simple analytical approximation for the moving-tweezer position and depth controls.

DOI
10.1103/7r3w-8m61

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We study the optimization of the transport and transfer of neutral atoms between optical tweezers, both critical steps in the implementation of quantum computers and simulators. We analyze four experimentally relevant pulse shapes (piecewise linear, piecewise quadratic, minimum jerk, and a combination of linear and minimum jerk), and we also develop a protocol using shortcuts-to-adiabaticity (STA) methods to crucially incorporate the time-dependent effects of static traps. By computing a measure of the final transport error and two measures of the heating during transport, we show that our proposed STA protocol comprehensively outperforms all the experimentally inspired pulses. After further optimizing the pulse shapes, we find a lower bound on the protocol duration, compatible with the time at which the vibrational excitations exceed half of the states hosted by the moving tweezer. This lower bound is at least eight times faster than the one reported in recent experiments, which highlights the importance of including and optimizing the transfer from and to static traps, which may be the largest bottleneck to speed. Finally, our STA results demonstrate that a modulation in the depth of the moving tweezer designed to time-dependently counteract the effect of the static traps is key to reducing errors and reducing the pulse duration. To motivate the implementation of our STA pulses in future experiments, we provide a simple analytical approximation for the moving-tweezer position and depth controls.
Movable single atoms have drawn significant attention for their potential as flying quantum memory in non-local, dynamic quantum computing architectures. However, when dynamic optical tweezers are employed to control atoms opto-mechanically, conventional methods such as adiabatic controls and constant jerk controls are either inherently slow or induce mechanical heating, leading to atom loss over long distances or at high speeds. To address these challenges, we explore the method known as shortcuts to adiabaticity (STA) as an efficient alternative for fast and reliable atom transport. We present a series of proof-of-concept experiments demonstrating that STA-based optical tweezer trajectories can achieve both rapid and reliable single-atom transport. These experiments include moving atoms between two locations, adjusting speeds en route, and navigating curved trajectories. Our results indicate that atoms can be transported with a constant acceleration on average over distances that is only limited by trap lifetime, while effectively suppressing vibrational heating. This makes STA methods particularly well-suited for long-distance atom transport, potentially spanning distances over centimeter scales, such as between quantum information devices.
Reconfigurable neutral-atom processors require rapid, high-fidelity transport of atoms between optical-tweezer sites. In finite-depth Gaussian traps, fast motion can leave residual motional excitation even when the atom reaches its destination. We develop a basis-parameterized gradient-ascent pulse-engineering (GRAPE) framework for one-dimensional transport of a single 87^{87}87Rb atom. A shortcut-to-adiabaticity reference is refined using 17 trajectory parameters, with ten additional parameters providing bounded trap-depth modulation; depth affects both confinement and the inverse construction of the physical trap center. For a 12.6 μ12.6\,μ12.6μm transfer completed in only 30.5 μ30.5\,μ30.5μs, corresponding to approximately 2.752.752.75 periods of the reference trap, the selected joint protocol achieves a ground-state infidelity of 2.41×10−72.41\times10^{-7}2.41×10−7. Because preparing an exactly pure motional ground state is experimentally challenging, we also optimize population-weighted transport for initial distributions with mean vibrational occupations $\nbar\simeq0.16$ and 1.871.871.87, reaching same-state probabilities of about 0.999930.999930.99993 and 0.99340.99340.9934. Trap-depth fluctuations can further degrade transport fidelity. Robust optimization under a measurement-informed depth-noise model improves the mean error, worst sampled error, and fidelity dispersion for the specified noise realizations. Coordinated control of tweezer position and confinement thus offers a route to rapid transport with low residual excitation for flexible atom rearrangement and dynamic connectivity in neutral-atom processors.
Theoretical studies of coherent atom transport have as yet mainly been restricted to one-dimensional model systems with harmonic trapping potentials. Here we investigate this important phenomenon---a prerequisite for a variety of quantum-technology applications based on cold neutral atoms---under much more complex physical circumstances. More specifically yet, we study fast atomic transport in a moving double-well optical lattice, whose three-dimensional (anharmonic) potential is nonseparable in the xxx-yyy plane. We first propose specific configurations of acousto-optic modulators that give rise to the moving-lattice effect in an arbitrary direction in this plane. We then determine moving-lattice trajectories that enable single-atom transport using two classes of quantum-control methods: shortcuts to adiabaticity (STA), here utilized in the form of inverse engineering based on a quadratic-in-momentum dynamical invariant of Lewis-Riesenfeld type, and their recently proposed modification termed enhanced STA (eSTA). Subsequently, we quantify the resulting single-atom dynamics by numerically solving the relevant time-dependent Schr\"odinger equations and compare the efficiency of STA- and eSTA-based transport by evaluating the respective fidelities. We show that---except for the regime of shallow lattices---the eSTA method consistently outperforms its STA counterpart. This study has direct implications for neutral-atom quantum computing based on collisional entangling two-qubit gates and quantum sensing of constant homogeneous forces via guided-atom interferometry.
Programmable neutral-atom arrays offer a promising route toward scalable quantum computing, where coherent qubit transfer enables non-local connectivity and reduces resource overhead. However, transfer speed and motional heating remain key bottlenecks for fast and deep quantum circuits. Here, we employ a fiber array neutral-atom quantum computing architecture with site-resolved control of trap depths to realize smooth amplitude exchange between static and moving traps, thereby enabling fast and coherent qubit transfer with ultralow motional heating. With a 10 μμμs in situ transfer between static and moving traps, we obtain a per-cycle heating rate of 0.156(9) μμμK, sustain over 500 cycles with negligible atom loss, and achieve a quantum state fidelity of 0.99992(5) per cycle. For inter-site transfer between two separated static traps, the operation takes 120 μμμs with 0.783(17) μμμK heating per transfer, and remains negligible atom loss for up to 100 repeated cycles with a fidelity of 0.9998(1) per transfer. Furthermore, through experimental studies of parallel transfer, we establish a model that elucidates the relationship between array inhomogeneity and the transfer heating rate. This fast, low-heating coherent transfer capability provides a practical route for improving both speed and fidelity in atom-shuttling based quantum computing.
The transport of neutral atoms in Rydberg quantum computers is a crucial step for the initial arrangement of the grid as well as the dynamic connectivity, recently successfully demonstrated. We study the application of optimal control and the quantum speed limit for the transport of neutral atoms in optical tweezers at finite temperatures and analyze how laser noise affects transport fidelity. Open-loop optimal control significantly enhances transport fidelity, achieving an improvement up to 89% for the lowest analyzed temperature of 1 µ K for a distance of 3 µ m . Furthermore, we simulate how the transport fidelity behaves in release-and-capture measurements, which are realizable in the experiment to estimate transport efficiency and implement closed-loop optimal control. Published by the American Physical Society 2024
Abstract Programmable neutral-atom arrays offer a promising route toward scalable quantum computing, where coherent qubit transfer enables non-local connectivity and reduces resource overhead. However, transfer speed and motional heating remain key bottlenecks for fast and deep quantum circuits. Here, we employ a fiber array neutral-atom quantum computing architecture with site-resolved control of trap depths to realize smooth amplitude exchange between static and moving traps, thereby enabling fast and coherent qubit transfer with ultralow motional heating. With a 10-μs in situ transfer between static and moving traps, we obtain a per-cycle heating rate of 0.156(9) μK, sustain over 500 cycles with negligible atom loss, and achieve a quantum state fidelity of 0.99992 (5) per cycle. For inter-site transfer between two separated static traps, the operation takes 120 μs with 0.783(17) μK heating per transfer, and exhibits negligible atom loss for up to 100 repeated cycles with a fidelity of 0.9998 (1) per transfer. Furthermore, through experimental studies of parallel transfer, we establish a model that elucidates the relationship between array inhomogeneity and the transfer heating rate. This fast, low-heating coherent transfer capability provides a practical route for improving both speed and fidelity in atom-shuttling based quantum computing.