Photonic Links for Rydberg atom arrays

Rydberg atom arrays have emerged as a leading platform for quantum computing and quantum simulation. One of the most promising ways of significantly scaling up the number of qubits is to establish quantum channels between separate Rydberg atom arrays. This could be done by developing an interface for photons which could connect distant arrays via optical fibers and quantum networking protocols. An optical cavity could serve as such a photonic interface and can, in addition, be used for fast mid-circuit readout for error detection.  Using individual atoms in optical tweezers, we explore two types of optical cavities and their feasibility as a photonic link. We show coherent control of Rydberg qubits and two-atom entanglement as close as 100um away from a nanophotonic cavity. We also show high-fidelity fast qubit state readout at a fiber Fabry Perot cavity. With its high cooperativity, a fiber cavity also offers cavity QED capabilities, which could further be combined with Rydberg atom arrays to open up new research avenues.

Bio:
Ivana Dimitrova is a postdoctoral fellow in the group of Mikhail Lukin at Harvard University, where she develops systems for connecting separate quantum computers via quantum links. Using optical cavities directly connected to optical fibers and integrating them into Rydberg atom array systems, this research could enable significant scaling up of Rydberg atom array quantum computers by allowing for separate quantum modules to be connected and work together. Ivana did her PhD in the group of Wolfgang Ketterle at MIT, where she built a quantum simulator using ultracold atoms in an optical lattice. With this experiment, she investigated different dynamical regimes of spin systems, relevant for bridging the knowledge gap between material properties and microscopic interparticle interactions.