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Optics Express

Dynamic high-speed spatial manipulation of cold atoms using acousto-optic and spatial light modulation

Fredrik K. Fatemi, Mark Bashkansky, Zachary Dutton

Published Mar 19, 2007• 42 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We demonstrate an experimental technique for high-resolution, high-speed spatial manipulation of atom clouds. By combining holographically engineered laser beams from a spatial light modulator with off-axis shear mode acousto-optic deflectors, we manipulate 1 x 3 arrays of cold atoms with individual site addressability. Additionally, we demonstrate smooth 2-dimensional motion of atomic ensembles, and the ability to guide multiple atomic ensembles independently.

DOI
10.1364/oe.15.003589

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Neutral atoms trapped by laser light are among the most promising candidates for storing and processing information in a quantum computer or simulator. The application certainly calls for a scalable and flexible scheme for addressing and manipulating the atoms. We have now made this a reality by implementing a fast and versatile method to dynamically control the position of neutral atoms trapped in optical tweezers. The tweezers result from a spatial light modulator (SLM) controlling and shaping a large number of optical dipole-force traps. Trapped atoms adapt to any change in the potential landscape, such that one can rearrange and randomly access individual sites within atom-trap arrays.

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We demonstrate an experimental technique for high-resolution, high-speed spatial manipulation of atom clouds. By combining holographically engineered laser beams from a spatial light modulator with off-axis shear mode acousto-optic deflectors, we manipulate 1 x 3 arrays of cold atoms with individual site addressability. Additionally, we demonstrate smooth 2-dimensional motion of atomic ensembles, and the ability to guide multiple atomic ensembles independently.
Rapid and programmable shaping of light fields is central to modern microscopy, display technologies, optical communications and sensing, quantum engineering, and quantum information processing. Current wavefront shaping technologies face a fundamental dichotomy: liquid-crystal-on-silicon spatial light modulators (LCoS-SLMs) offer high pixel count but suffer from low refresh rates, while acousto-optic deflectors (AODs) provide moderate speed with restricted optical beam geometries. Though recent advances in photonic integrated circuits achieve fast switching, there is currently no tool that provides MHz-rate, continuous motion, and arbitrarily reconfigurable control over a set of diffraction-limited spots. Here we introduce a new class of spatial light modulator that provides both 2D pixel geometry and high speed. The device operates by encoding spatial information in frequency bins via a broadband optical phase modulator, and decoding them via a first-of-its-kind, high-resolution 2D spectrometer. The spectrometer, based on the architecture which we call the Re-Imaging Phased Array (RIPA), achieves its sensitivity through long path-lengths, enabled by intra-spectrometer re-imaging lens-guides. We demonstrate site-resolved optical pulsing with a 44(1)~ns rise time, corresponding to frame rates exceeding 10 million frames per second, as well as arbitrary, reconfigurable 2D addressing and multi-site operations, including asynchronous, independent beam motion, splitting, and recombination. Leveraging these tools opens new horizons in rapid optical manipulation of matter across science, from fast, scalable control that approaches the inertial and radiation limits of atoms in quantum processors, to dynamically programmable, microsecond-resolved illumination in microscopy and neuro-biological imaging.
Current architectures for neutral-atom arrays utilize devices such as acousto-optic deflectors (AODs) and spatial light modulators (SLMs) to multiplex a single classical control line into N qubit control lines. Dynamic control is speed-limited by the response time of AODs, and geometrically constrained to respect a product structure, limiting motion to row-by-row or column-by-column moves. We propose an optical rastering device that can produce any 2D pattern, not limited to grids, at 1 MHz refresh rates. We demonstrate a design with a resolution of 40 x 40 that can be further scaled up to 100 x 100 to match existing and future neutral atom devices. The ability to simultaneously transport atomic qubits in arbitrary directions will enhance qubit connectivity, enable more efficient circuits, and may have broader applications ranging from LiDAR to fluorescence microscopy.
Current architectures for neutral-atom arrays use devices such as acousto-optic deflectors (AODs) and spatial light modulators (SLMs) to multiplex a single classical control line into N qubit control lines. Dynamic control is speed-limited by the response time of AODs, and geometrically constrained to respect a product structure, limiting motion to row-by-row or column-by-column moves. We propose an optical rastering device that can produce any 2D pattern, not limited to grids, at 1 MHz refresh rates. We demonstrate a design with a resolution of 40 × 40 that can be further scaled up to 100 × 100 to match existing and future neutral atom devices. The ability to simultaneously transport atomic qubits in arbitrary directions will enhance qubit connectivity and enable more efficient circuits and may have broader applications ranging from LiDAR to fluorescence microscopy.
Neutral atoms trapped by laser light are among the most promising candidates for storing and processing information in a quantum computer or simulator. The application certainly calls for a scalable and flexible scheme for addressing and manipulating the atoms. We have now made this a reality by implementing a fast and versatile method to dynamically control the position of neutral atoms trapped in optical tweezers. The tweezers result from a spatial light modulator (SLM) controlling and shaping a large number of optical dipole-force traps. Trapped atoms adapt to any change in the potential landscape, such that one can rearrange and randomly access individual sites within atom-trap arrays.