Realization of a cavity-coupled Rydberg array

TL;DR

This paper reports the development of a scalable quantum platform that combines Rydberg atom arrays with optical cavities, enabling strong light-matter interactions and Rydberg excitations at the same location, advancing quantum networking and simulation.

Contribution

It demonstrates the first integration of a cavity-coupled Rydberg array with controlled Rydberg excitation and strong cavity coupling in a scalable setup.

Findings

Achieved strong coupling to an optical cavity via dispersive shift.

Demonstrated collective enhancement of Rydberg interactions.

Enabled controlled Rydberg excitation within the cavity mode.

Abstract

Scalable quantum computers and quantum networks require the combination of quantum processing nodes with efficient light-matter interfaces to distribute quantum information in local or long-distance quantum networks. Neutral-atom arrays have both been coupled to Rydberg states to enable high-fidelity quantum gates in universal processing architectures, and to optical cavities to realize interfaces to photons. However, combining these two capabilities and coupling atom arrays to highly excited Rydberg states in the mode of an optical cavity has been an outstanding challenge. Here we present a novel cavity-coupled Rydberg array that achieves this long-standing goal. We prepare, detect, and control individual atoms in a scalable optical tweezer array, couple them strongly to the optical mode of a high-finesse optical cavity and excite them in a controlled way to Rydberg states. We show that strong coupling to an optical cavity - demonstrated via the dispersive shift of the resonance of the cavity in presence of the atoms - and strong Rydberg interactions - demonstrated via the collective enhancement of Rydberg coupling in the atomic array - can be achieved in our setup at the same spatial location. Our presented experimental platform opens the path to several new directions, including the realization of quantum network nodes, quantum simulation of long-range interacting, open quantum systems and photonic-state engineering leveraging high-fidelity Rydberg control.