An integrated atom array-nanophotonic chip platform with background-free imaging

Area of Science:

• Quantum Information Science
• Atomic Physics
• Nanophotonics

Background:

• Neutral atom arrays in optical tweezers are scalable platforms for quantum information processing and simulation.
• Individual atoms can be used for quantum networking by emitting entangled photons.
• Integrating atom arrays with photonic interfaces is challenging due to imaging difficulties near photonic devices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate a novel architecture for integrating neutral atom arrays with photonic chips.
• To overcome the challenge of background noise and scattering from photonic devices during atom imaging.
• To enable the development of distributed quantum computing architectures.

Main Methods:

• Utilized an architecture combining up to 64 optical tweezers with a millimeter-scale photonic chip containing over 100 nanophotonic cavities.
• Implemented a multichromatic excitation and detection scheme for high-fidelity, background-free imaging.
• Verified atom trapping positions near the dielectric surface using Stark shift measurements.

Main Results:

• Achieved high-fidelity (~99.2%) background-free imaging of neutral atoms near nanophotonic cavities.
• Demonstrated successful imaging of atoms trapped a few hundred nanometers above the photonic chip surface.
• Successfully rearranged atoms into defect-free arrays and loaded them onto devices.

Conclusions:

• The developed architecture successfully integrates neutral atom arrays with photonic interfaces.
• The multichromatic imaging technique overcomes previous limitations in atom detection near photonic devices.
• This work paves the way for scalable, distributed quantum information processing and quantum networking.