Ultra-cold mechanical resonators coupled to atoms in an optical lattice

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel experiment integrating ultra-cold atoms with cooled micro-cantilevers for quantum computation and entanglement, highlighting potential advantages over magnetic traps and applications in quantum mechanics tests.

Contribution

It introduces a new hybrid system combining micro-cantilevers and ultra-cold atoms for quantum information processing and entanglement, with detailed protocols and advantages over existing methods.

Findings

Design of a two-qubit CNOT gate using atomic and resonator states

Protocol for entangling multiple cantilevers via atoms

Discussion of reduced decoherence with optical confinement

Abstract

We propose an experiment utilizing an array of cooled micro-cantilevers coupled to a sample of ultra-cold atoms trapped near a micro-fabricated surface. The cantilevers allow individual lattice site addressing for atomic state control and readout, and potentially may be useful in optical lattice quantum computation schemes. Assuming resonators can be cooled to their vibrational ground state, the implementation of a two-qubit controlled-NOT gate with atomic internal states and the motional states of the resonator is described. We also consider a protocol for entangling two or more cantilevers on the atom chip with different resonance frequencies, using the trapped atoms as an intermediary. Although similar experiments could be carried out with magnetic microchip traps, the optical confinement scheme we consider may exhibit reduced near-field magnetic noise and decoherence. Prospects for using this novel system for tests of quantum mechanics at macroscopic scales or quantum information processing are discussed.