Science

Atom-by-atom assembly of defect-free one-dimensional cold atom arrays

Manuel Endres, Hannes Bernien, Alexander Keesling, Harry Levine, Eric R. Anschuetz, Alexandre Krajenbrink, Crystal Senko, Vladan Vuletić, Markus Greiner, Mikhail D. Lukin

Published Nov 3, 2016• 860 citations

Publisher

Abstract

The realization of large-scale fully controllable quantum systems is an exciting frontier in modern physical science. We use atom-by-atom assembly to implement a platform for the deterministic preparation of regular one-dimensional arrays of individually controlled cold atoms. In our approach, a measurement and feedback procedure eliminates the entropy associated with probabilistic trap occupation and results in defect-free arrays of more than 50 atoms in less than 400 milliseconds. The technique is based on fast, real-time control of 100 optical tweezers, which we use to arrange atoms in desired geometric patterns and to maintain these configurations by replacing lost atoms with surplus atoms from a reservoir. This bottom-up approach may enable controlled engineering of scalable many-body systems for quantum information processing, quantum simulations, and precision measurements.

DOI: 10.1126/science.aah3752

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