Manipulation of individual atoms for quantum information

Dieter Meschede

Neutral atoms trapped in optical dipole traps can be used to store and process quantum information. We describe experimental methods to manipulate external and internal degrees of freedom of a small number of neutral atoms with access to every individual atom.

Michael J. Gibbons, Soo Jeong Kim, Kevin Fortier +2 more

Michael Chapman, Li You, Kennedy, T. A.

The principle goal of our program is the demonstration of scalable quantum logic between qubits encoded in the internal states of neutral atoms sharing the quantum field of an optical cavity. This requires successful integration of two leading quantum information technologies atom-based quantum memories and cavity QED-based entanglement generation and manipulation. We have developed methods for trapping atoms inside high-finesse optical resonators for scalable quantum logic. Our configuration employs infrared (CO2) laser traps for individual atoms that will permit us to store many individually addressable atoms and to manipulate these atoms in arbitrary combinations using the quantum field of the optical cavity. Importantly, the use of infrared trapping lasers virtually eliminates decoherence due to atomic spontaneous emission, which hinders many AMO-based systems.

Mikhail D. Lukin, Axel André, M. A. Eisaman +5 more

Philippe Grangier

Alexey Vyacheslavovich Gorshkov, Ana María Rey, Andrew J. Daley +4 more

We propose and analyze a novel approach to quantum information processing, in which multiple qubits can be encoded and manipulated using electronic and nuclear degrees of freedom associated with individual alkaline-earth-metal atoms trapped in an optical lattice. Specifically, we describe how the qubits within each register can be individually manipulated and measured with subwavelength optical resolution. We also show how such few-qubit registers can be coupled to each other in optical superlattices via conditional tunneling to form a scalable quantum network. Finally, potential applications to quantum computation and precision measurements are discussed.