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Physical Review A

Long coherence times for Rydberg qubits on a superconducting atom chip

Carla Hermann-Avigliano, R Teixeira, Thanh Long Nguyen, Tigrane Cantat-Moltrecht, Gilles Nogues, I. Dotsenko, S. Gleyzes, J. M. Raimond, S. Haroche, M. Brune

Published Oct 23, 2014• 89 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Superconducting atom chips and Rydberg atoms are promising tools for quantum information processing operations based on the dipole blockade effect. Nevertheless, one has to face the severe problem of stray electric fields in the vicinity of the chip. We demonstrate a simple method circumventing this problem. Microwave spectroscopy reveals extremely long coherence lifetimes (in the millisecond range) for a qubit stored in a Rydberg level superposition close to the chip surface. This is an essential step for the development of quantum simulation with Rydberg atoms and of a hybrid quantum information architecture based on atomic ensembles and superconducting circuits.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.90.040502

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On one side, atom-chip experiments have demonstrated to be a versatile tool to study quantum physics in cold atoms systems. On the other side, Rydberg atoms have exaggerated properties that makes them good candidates to study quantum information and quantum simulations protocols. In this thesis both system are put together with the aim to study Rydberg physics (in particular atom-atom interaction) in an atom-chip experiment. Due to the exaggerated properties of Rydberg atoms they are very sensitive to electric fields. Thus, the combination of Rydberg atoms with surfaces can be challenging. Therefore a detailed characterization of the mentioned stray electric fields via the analysis of Stark-Zeeman maps is crucial. We employ two-photon Rydberg Stark spectroscopy of a micron-sized cloud of magnetically trapped ultracold rubidium atoms to characterize the electric fields near our atom-chip. Once we characterized the local electric fields we were able to study in more detail the effect of Rydberg excitation in the ultracold cloud of atoms. For instance we observed the formation of ultralong-range Rydberg molecules in our system. In these molecules a ground state atom is weakly bound to the Rydberg electron. We also attempted to observe the effect of Rydberg blockade in the system by looking at the characteristics of Rydberg spectra. Finally we studied the possibility of inducing rf transitions within a Rydberg state manifold in order to enhance our detection method and populate states that are not accessible directly with a two-photon laser transition.

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Spatially resolved excitation of Rydberg atoms and surface effects on an atom chip

Atreju Tauschinsky, Rutger M. T. Thijssen, S. Whitlock +2 more

We demonstrate spatially resolved, coherent excitation of Rydberg atoms on an atom chip. Electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) is used to investigate the properties of the Rydberg atoms near the gold-coated chip surface. We measure distance-dependent shifts ($~$$10$ MHz) of the Rydberg energy levels caused by a spatially inhomogeneous electric field. The measured field strength and distance dependence is in agreement with a simple model for the electric field produced by a localized patch of Rb adsorbates deposited on the chip surface during experiments. The EIT resonances remain narrow ($<4$ MHz) and the observed widths are independent of atom-surface distance down to $~$$20$ $\ensuremath{\mu}$m, indicating relatively long lifetime of the Rydberg states. Our results open the way to studies of dipolar physics, collective excitations, quantum metrology, and quantum information processing involving interacting Rydberg excited atoms on atom chips.

arXiv:1004.3230•Physical Review A•Jun 10, 2010•126 citations
Superconducting atom chips and Rydberg atoms are promising tools for quantum information processing operations based on the dipole blockade effect. Nevertheless, one has to face the severe problem of stray electric fields in the vicinity of the chip. We demonstrate a simple method circumventing this problem. Microwave spectroscopy reveals extremely long coherence lifetimes (in the millisecond range) for a qubit stored in a Rydberg level superposition close to the chip surface. This is an essential step for the development of quantum simulation with Rydberg atoms and of a hybrid quantum information architecture based on atomic ensembles and superconducting circuits.
Hybrid quantum systems involving cold atoms and microwave resonators can enable cavity-mediated infinite-range interactions between atomic spin systems and realize atomic quantum memories and transducers for microwave-to-optical conversion. To achieve strong coupling of atoms to on-chip microwave resonators, it was suggested to use atomic Rydberg states with strong electric-dipole transitions. Here we report on the experimental realization of coherent coupling of a Rydberg transition of ultracold atoms, trapped on an integrated superconducting atom chip, to the microwave field of an on-chip coplanar waveguide resonator. Close to the chip surface, stray electric fields lead to inhomogeneous Rydberg level shifts, which would hinder coherent interactions of atoms in a cloud with the Rydberg excitation lasers and the microwave cavity field. We, however, use optical excitation of a Rydberg state of atoms in a narrow layer with nearly constant electric field, which allows for resonant coupling of the atoms to the cavity microwave field on an appropriate Rydberg transition. We also achieve state-selective detection of the energetically close Rydberg states. We then observe and characterize cavity-driven Rabi oscillations between a pair of atomic Rydberg states. The residual damping of the oscillations is dominated by the spread of Rabi frequencies of atoms in different positions of the resonant cavity mode, as revealed by our model. Despite the technical challenges, our studies demonstrate the feasibility of coherent-state manipulation of Rydberg atoms interacting with superconducting circuits, paving the way for realization of capable hybrid quantum systems.
On one side, atom-chip experiments have demonstrated to be a versatile tool to study quantum physics in cold atoms systems. On the other side, Rydberg atoms have exaggerated properties that makes them good candidates to study quantum information and quantum simulations protocols. In this thesis both system are put together with the aim to study Rydberg physics (in particular atom-atom interaction) in an atom-chip experiment. Due to the exaggerated properties of Rydberg atoms they are very sensitive to electric fields. Thus, the combination of Rydberg atoms with surfaces can be challenging. Therefore a detailed characterization of the mentioned stray electric fields via the analysis of Stark-Zeeman maps is crucial. We employ two-photon Rydberg Stark spectroscopy of a micron-sized cloud of magnetically trapped ultracold rubidium atoms to characterize the electric fields near our atom-chip. Once we characterized the local electric fields we were able to study in more detail the effect of Rydberg excitation in the ultracold cloud of atoms. For instance we observed the formation of ultralong-range Rydberg molecules in our system. In these molecules a ground state atom is weakly bound to the Rydberg electron. We also attempted to observe the effect of Rydberg blockade in the system by looking at the characteristics of Rydberg spectra. Finally we studied the possibility of inducing rf transitions within a Rydberg state manifold in order to enhance our detection method and populate states that are not accessible directly with a two-photon laser transition.
Rydberg atoms possess strong electric dipole transitions and tunable energy levels, making them promising candidates for microwave to optical conversion on integrated superconducting atom chips. Achieving strong coupling of the atoms to e.g. the microwave field of an on-chip resonator requires placing the atoms within tens of micrometers from the chip surface. However, inhomogeneous stray electric fields originating from the surface can induce position-dependent Stark forces, resulting in atomic motion and leading to time-dependent shifts of the Rydberg energy levels. We experimentally investigate these effects using time-of-flight and spectroscopic techniques, observing substantial level shifts and signal loss attributable to field-induced atomic motion. A theoretical model incorporating an exponentially decaying surface field with a superimposed bias accurately reproduces the observed dynamics. To mitigate the level shift, we introduce a Stark echo sequence that dynamically reverses the force. This approach suppresses the atomic motion and maintains the atomic resonance. The method relies solely on global field control and is compatible with atom-resonator coupling architectures, providing a robust strategy for preserving coherence of Rydberg atoms in inhomogeneous electric fields near surfaces.
Neutral atoms provide an excellent resource for quantum information processing, combining the long atomic coherence times of the hyperfine ground-state with strong dipole-dipole interactions of highly excited Rydberg states for generating deterministic entanglement between qubits separated by < 10 µm [1]. Scalable long-range interactions can be obtained by coupling the atomic array to a superconducting microwave cavity enabling hybrid quantum information processing where the cavity-mediated entanglement allows atoms to be coupled over cm length scales. We present the first steps towards such an experiment incorporating high fidelity readout using an sCMOS camera [2] and the ability to drive fast, optically addressable rotations of the hyperfine-encoded qubits to the Rydberg state. Using our sub-kHz cavitystabilised laser system [3] we demonstrate coherent control of single Rydberg atoms, performing Ramsey spectroscopy to determine coherence time and to generate entanglement between a pair of atoms separated by 6 µm. Combining this excitation scheme with our ground-state Raman lasers we show progress towards the implementation of a mesoscopic Rydberg gate based on electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) offering robust entanglement of multi-atom ensembles [4].
Atomic-superconducting hybrid systems are of particular interest as they are combining the long coherence times of ultracold atoms and fast gate operation times of superconducting circuits. Here we discuss an experimental realization of an interface between cold Rydberg atoms and a transmon circuit embedded in a microwave cavity. We present numerical calculations showing a significant coupling of Rydberg atoms to a transmon. Here we place the atoms in the vicinity of the transmon shunting capacitor. Exciting them to the Rydberg states alters the dielectric constant of the medium inside the capacitor. This results in a dispersive shift of the transmon resonance frequency. Using the protocols developed in Ref. 1, 2 will allow the coherent transfer of quantum states between these two systems.
We demonstrate spatially resolved, coherent excitation of Rydberg atoms on an atom chip. Electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) is used to investigate the properties of the Rydberg atoms near the gold-coated chip surface. We measure distance-dependent shifts ( ~ 101010 MHz) of the Rydberg energy levels caused by a spatially inhomogeneous electric field. The measured field strength and distance dependence is in agreement with a simple model for the electric field produced by a localized patch of Rb adsorbates deposited on the chip surface during experiments. The EIT resonances remain narrow (<4<4<4 MHz) and the observed widths are independent of atom-surface distance down to  ~ 202020 $\ensuremath{\mu}$m, indicating relatively long lifetime of the Rydberg states. Our results open the way to studies of dipolar physics, collective excitations, quantum metrology, and quantum information processing involving interacting Rydberg excited atoms on atom chips.