Dual Species Atom Arrays for Quantum Simulation and Computation

Abstract

Optical tweezer arrays of neutral atoms have emerged as a promising platform for studying quantum physics. These individual atoms can be carefully prepared in single quantum states, and easily manipulated with microwaves and lasers. MHz scale interactions are accessible at several micron scale distances by exciting these atoms to Rydberg states. These arrays can also be created in arbitrary 2D geometries with the use of a spatial light modulator. Adding the capability of a second species opens new possibilities in non-destructive measurement and quantum simulation of bipartite systems with widely tunable parameters. In this thesis, we describe our efforts to build a flexible platform for studying quantum phenomena utilizing two species of atoms, sodium and cesium. In particular, we discuss the laser technology and setups required to create dual species optical tweezer arrays. These arrays are made defect-free with real-time rearrangement of atoms using a separate set of tweezers created with acousto-optical deflectors. We then describe how to excite these atoms coherently to the Rydberg state with coherence times in Cs as long as 20 microseconds. With these techniques established, we are able to probe an Ising critical point in 1D and 2D systems with up to 81 atoms. In particular, we measure and confirm the value of the universal critical exponent, $\eta$, via adiabatic preparation of the ground state at the critical point. Then, we measure the interactions between sodium and cesium atoms setting the stage for future experiments. Lastly, a theoretical proposal is presented where Rydberg atoms can be used to enhance the interaction rates of ultracold polar molecules, as well as measure their states non-destructively.