Control and Manipulation of Cold Atoms in Optical Tweezers

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a fast, versatile method for dynamically controlling and re-arranging neutral atoms in optical tweezers using a spatial light modulator, advancing quantum information processing capabilities.

Contribution

Introduces a scalable, flexible approach to manipulate neutral atoms in optical tweezers with a spatial light modulator for quantum computing applications.

Findings

Achieved dynamic control of atom positions in optical tweezers.

Enabled re-arrangement and random access of atoms within trap arrays.

Demonstrated versatility and speed of the manipulation method.

Abstract

Neutral atoms trapped by laser light are amongst the most promising candidates for storing and processing information in a quantum computer or simulator. The application certainly calls for a scalable and flexible scheme for addressing and manipulating the atoms. We have now made this a reality by implementing a fast and versatile method to dynamically control the position of neutral atoms trapped in optical tweezers. The tweezers result from a spatial light modulator (SLM) controlling and shaping a large number of optical dipole-force traps. Trapped atoms adapt to any change in the potential landscape, such that one can re-arrange and randomly access individual sites within atom-trap arrays.