Low-Entropy Arrays of Microwave-Shielded Molecules Prepared by Interaction Blockade

Ultracold molecules are becoming an increasingly important technology for quantum simulation, computation, and sensing, but their state preparation in large, low-entropy arrays remains a key challenge. We propose to deterministically load single molecules into optical tweezer arrays or lattices from either thermal or degenerate gases, with a high probability of occupying the tweezer's motional ground state. Strong repulsion between microwave-shielded molecules prevents multiparticle occupancy. Our proposal represents a robust scheme for deterministic single molecule preparation directly in the motional ground state with expected fidelities exceeding 99% for small trap volumes and highly polar species. This method can be scaled to thousands of traps limited by the reservoir molecule number, opening the door to large, low-entropy polar molecule arrays for quantum computation, quantum simulation, and precision measurement.