NanoLattice

Quantum Matter Built from Strongly Interacting Systems of Atoms and Photons

Alexander Burgers (Hosted by Murch), Princeton University, Department of Electrical Engineering

Realizing strong, controllable interactions in large systems of atoms is a grand goal of atomic physics research.  The versatility of these systems is evident from their usage in simulating quantum systems (e.g. investigating quantum phase transitions) to metrology and building reliable quantum memories. I will describe two approaches to achieving strongly interacting atomic systems and their impact on atomic physics and quantum information science: 1) Cold atoms coupled to nanophotonic structures enable the exploration of new paradigms in quantum optics and many-body physics. At Caltech, we explored such phenomena using a quasi-one-dimensional photonic crystal waveguide (PCW) whose photonic band structure arises from periodic modulation of the dielectric structure [1].  By engineering the photonic environment coupled to the atom we can access interaction regimes between atoms and photons that are different in kind to any previous systems. These regimes have profound implications for investigating atom-atom interactions for the simulation of quantum systems and creating on-chip quantum memories. I will further discuss recent upgrades to the system which utilize optical tweezers to manipulate single atoms near the PCW [2].   2) Atoms where the outer electron is excited to extremely high principle quantum numbers, known as Rydberg states, exhibit strong atom-atom interactions that are applicable to a wide set of problems in quantum information science. In particular, Alkaline-earth Rydberg atoms trapped in optical tweezer arrays can be used to realize large scale coherent quantum systems. The advantage of this experimental platform is derived from the strong nature of Rydberg interactions coupled with highly controllable optical tweezer arrays.  To date, most neutral atom array experiments utilize alkali atoms, however alkaline-earth atoms offer many advantages including extremely long coherence times for nuclear spins in the J = 0 electronic ground state and narrow optical transitions for use in efficient laser-cooling, metrology and precision measurement. At Princeton, we have recently shown, for the first time, trapping of Rydberg states with conventional optical tweezers [3].  Trapping atoms in Rydberg states allows for prolonged investigation of interactions beyond the current state-of-the-art.  Both systems, Rydberg atoms and atoms coupled to nanophotonics, are complementary approaches to creating strong atomic interactions and share many common goals in atomic physics.

[1] AP Burgers et al. "Clocked Atom Delivery to a Photonic Crystal Waveguide”. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 116, 2 456 (2019)
[2] JB Beguin*, AP Burgers* et al. “An advanced apparatus for the integration of nanophotonics and cold atoms.” Optica 7, 1 (2020)
[3] JT Wilson, S Saskin, Y Meng, S Ma, R Dillip, AP Burgers, JD Thompson. “Trapped arrays of alkaline earth Rydberg atoms in optical tweezers” arXiv: 1912.08754 (2019)