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Bulletin of the American Physical Society

Broadband Multi-Spot Optical Beam Steering with Independent 2D Addressability for Quantum Information Processing

Caleb W. Knoernschild, Changsoon Kim, Felix P. Lu, Jungsang Kim

Published Mar 10, 2008• 1 citation
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MEMS-based Flexible Optical Beam Steering for Quantum Information Processing in Atomic Arrays

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Bulletin of the American Physical Society•May 30, 2008•0 citations

A 10 Megahertz Spatial Light Modulator

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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.

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Photonic Technology for Quantum Information Processing

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UV laser beam switching system for Yb trapped ion quantum information processing

David R. Scherer, Joel M. Hensley, Krishnan R. Parameswaran +4 more

Qubits based on trapped ions are being investigated as a promising platform for scalable quantum information processing. One challenge associated with the scalability of such a multi-qubit trapped ion system is the need for an ultraviolet (UV) laser beam switching and control system to independently modulate and address large qubit arrays. In this work, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a novel architecture for a laser beam control system for trapped ion quantum computing based on fast electro-optic amplitude switching and high-fidelity electromechanical beam shuttering using a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) deflector coupled into a single-mode optical fiber. We achieve a rise/fall time of 5 ns, power extinction of -31 dB, and pulse width repeatability of > 99.95% using an electrooptic switch based on a β-BaB2O4 (BBO) Pockels cell. A tilting MEMS mirror fabricated using a commercial foundry was used to steer UV light into a single-mode optical fiber, resulting in an electromechanical beam shutter that demonstrated a power extinction of -52 dB and a switching time of 2 μs. The combination of these two technologies allows for high-fidelity power extinction using a platform that does not suffer from temperature-induced beam steering due to changes in modulation duty cycle. The overall system is capable of UV laser beam switching to create the resolved sideband Raman cooling pulses, algorithm pulses, and read-out pulses required for quantum computing applications.

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Optical setups for quantum information processing

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Scalable Optical MEMS Technology for Quantum Information Processing

Caleb W. Knoernschild

Among the various physical systems considered for scalable quantum information processing (QIP), individually trapped ions or neutral atoms have emerged as promising candidates. Recent experiments using these systems have demonstrated the basic building blocks required for a useful quantum computer. In many of these experiments, precisely tuned lasers control and manipulate the quantum bit (qubit) represented in the electronic energy levels of the ion or atom. Scaling these systems to the necessary number of qubits needed for meaningful calculations, requires the development of scalable optical technology capable of delivering laser resources across an array of ions or atoms. That scalable technology is currently not available. In this dissertation, I will report on the development, design, characterization, and implementation of an optical beam steering system utilizing microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology. Highly optimized micromirrors enable fast reconfiguration of multiple laser beam paths which can accommodate a range of wavelengths. Employing micromirrors with a broadband metallic coating, our system has the flexibility to simultaneously control multiple beams covering a wide range of wavelengths. The reconfiguration of two independent beams at different wavelengths (780 and 635 nm) across a common 5x5 array of target sites is reported along with micromirror switching times as fast as 4 us. The optical design of the system minimizes residual intensity at neighboring sites to less than 40 dB below the peak intensity. Integration of a similar system into a neutral atom QIP experiment is reported where 5 individually trapped atoms are selectively manipulated through single qubit rotations with a single laser source. This demonstration represents the first application of MEMS technology in scalable QIP laser addressing.

•Jan 1, 2011•0 citations
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.
Qubits based on trapped ions are being investigated as a promising platform for scalable quantum information processing. One challenge associated with the scalability of such a multi-qubit trapped ion system is the need for an ultraviolet (UV) laser beam switching and control system to independently modulate and address large qubit arrays. In this work, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a novel architecture for a laser beam control system for trapped ion quantum computing based on fast electro-optic amplitude switching and high-fidelity electromechanical beam shuttering using a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) deflector coupled into a single-mode optical fiber. We achieve a rise/fall time of 5 ns, power extinction of -31 dB, and pulse width repeatability of > 99.95% using an electrooptic switch based on a β-BaB2O4 (BBO) Pockels cell. A tilting MEMS mirror fabricated using a commercial foundry was used to steer UV light into a single-mode optical fiber, resulting in an electromechanical beam shutter that demonstrated a power extinction of -52 dB and a switching time of 2 μs. The combination of these two technologies allows for high-fidelity power extinction using a platform that does not suffer from temperature-induced beam steering due to changes in modulation duty cycle. The overall system is capable of UV laser beam switching to create the resolved sideband Raman cooling pulses, algorithm pulses, and read-out pulses required for quantum computing applications.
Among the various physical systems considered for scalable quantum information processing (QIP), individually trapped ions or neutral atoms have emerged as promising candidates. Recent experiments using these systems have demonstrated the basic building blocks required for a useful quantum computer. In many of these experiments, precisely tuned lasers control and manipulate the quantum bit (qubit) represented in the electronic energy levels of the ion or atom. Scaling these systems to the necessary number of qubits needed for meaningful calculations, requires the development of scalable optical technology capable of delivering laser resources across an array of ions or atoms. That scalable technology is currently not available. In this dissertation, I will report on the development, design, characterization, and implementation of an optical beam steering system utilizing microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology. Highly optimized micromirrors enable fast reconfiguration of multiple laser beam paths which can accommodate a range of wavelengths. Employing micromirrors with a broadband metallic coating, our system has the flexibility to simultaneously control multiple beams covering a wide range of wavelengths. The reconfiguration of two independent beams at different wavelengths (780 and 635 nm) across a common 5x5 array of target sites is reported along with micromirror switching times as fast as 4 us. The optical design of the system minimizes residual intensity at neighboring sites to less than 40 dB below the peak intensity. Integration of a similar system into a neutral atom QIP experiment is reported where 5 individually trapped atoms are selectively manipulated through single qubit rotations with a single laser source. This demonstration represents the first application of MEMS technology in scalable QIP laser addressing.