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arXiv:2608.05010

Neutral Atom Quantum Computing: Principles, Routes, Progress, and Challenges

Junchao Wang, Zeyuan Wang, Lei Li, Feng Wang, Shibo Liang, Keduo Yan

quant-phSubmitted Aug 5, 2026• Announced Aug 6, 2026• 0 citations

v1 · Aug 5, 2026 v2 · Aug 10, 2026

Abstract

Neutral atom quantum computing utilizes laser-trapped neutral atoms as qubits and realizes quantum logic gate operations through Rydberg-state interactions. In recent years, it has become one of the most vibrant directions in quantum computing hardware. This paper systematically reviews the working principles of neutral-atom quantum computers, including qubit encoding, atom trapping and manipulation, Rydberg states and interactions, the Rydberg blockade quantum gate mechanism, and atom rearrangement with reconfigurable architectures. The mainstream technical routes are surveyed, represented by optical tweezer arrays combined with Rydberg interactions, optical lattice schemes, and dipole trap arrays. A panoramic review is provided of domestic and international research progress from theoretical foundations in 2000 to the latest achievements in 2026, including thousand-qubit-scale systems, logical qubits, and quantum error correction experiments. Key breakthroughs are highlighted, such as the 6100-atom qubit array, continuous operation of a 3000-qubit system, quantum simulation of the Kitaev honeycomb model, toric code error correction demonstrations, encoding rates exceeding 1/2, and fault-tolerant architectures. The core bottlenecks are analyzed in depth, including the scalability--fidelity trade-off, engineering implementation of quantum error correction, atom loss and mid-circuit replenishment, laser system industrialization, control electronics scalability, and long-distance quantum interconnection. This paper aims to provide a systematic reference for academic research and technological development in this field.

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In recent years, optical tweezer arrays of neutral atoms have attracted much attention as a platform for implementing quantum computers. The neutral atom quantum computers are a promising candidate for fault-tolerant quantum computation due to their high controllability and scalability based on the technique of reconfigurable optical tweezers array and the use of Rydberg states to realize a two-qubit gate between two distant atoms in the optical tweezers. In this paper, we will give an overview of the neutral atom quantum computer and its technical issues and introduce our research using atoms in an optical tweezer array.

Neutral atom qubits are one of the leading approaches for implementation of a large scale quantum computer. The original proposals for neutral atom qubits were formulated more than 25 years ago, with first demonstrations of a universal gate set following 10 years later. In the last few years the performance and scale of neutral atom qubit arrays has developed at a rapid pace leading to demonstrations of quantum algorithms, and logical qubits for fault tolerant error correction. This contribution reviews the physics of the neutral atom approach, surveys current capabilities, and provides an outlook for future progress.

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Neutral atom quantum computing has evolved rapidly over the last decade, with experiments moving from investigating dipole-dipole interactions between a few Rydberg excited atoms to the creation of hardware offering thousands of atoms, reconfigurable qubit geometries and strong, long-range interactions. These advances have enabled applications to graph optimisation problems, realisation of high fidelity gate operations and first demonstrations of quantum error correction between logical qubits. In this article we provide an introduction to the neutral atom platform, providing an overview of underpinning physical concepts used for performing coherent gate operations and Rydberg atom interactions, and show how these can be combined to create a versatile platform for performing digital and analogue quantum computing, as well as programmable quantum simulation.

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