A Quantum Hybrid System for Linking Rydberg Atom Quantum Gates

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There has been significant progress constructing neutral atom quantum gates based on Rydberg atoms over the last year. These quantum gates are good candidates for building a scalable quantum computer because they possess the distinct advantage that the atomic ground states, where quantum information is stored, are weakly interacting while the Rydberg states, where gate operations are performed, are strongly interacting. These features make Rydberg atom quantum gates relatively immune to environmental noise and therefore show great promise as scalable systems for quantum devices. Theoretically, Rydberg atom ensembles can also be made to behave collectively as 'superatoms' using Rydberg atom dipole blockade to make Rydberg atom neutral quantum gates even more robust. One important element necessary to make Rydberg atom quantum gates useful and scalable is a way to transfer information between gates via the electromagnetic field. Our research focuses on developing this piece of the Rydberg atom quantum computation toolbox. We are investigating a new type of quantum hybrid system that can be used to transfer quantum information between 2 distinct clouds of Rydberg atoms. Rydberg atoms can interact strongly with surface polaritons and the surface polaritons can be used to transfer information between 2 distinct points in space. Surface polaritons are mixtures of crystal vibrations and light that can propagate along the surface of a dielectric solid, such as quartz. The project will support 2 graduate students who will complete the work described. The research program will also enable undergraduate students to participate through the senior thesis and NSF-REU programs at OU. Our research group has been successful with undergraduate research participation as demonstrated by the completion of 31 different senior theses and NSF-REU projects over the last 10 years. To help recruit new students to and teach the students working on the project, the PI will include topics relevant to this research in the summer course in advanced research topics that he has taught in the past, interrupted only by a sabbatical, to faculty, graduate students and summer undergraduate research students, most recently at OU-Tulsa. Our work will also open, to our knowledge, an almost unexplored atom field interaction, that which occurs between Rydberg atoms and surface phonon polaritons. This area of research can contribute to a better understanding of surfaces and to the development of polaritronic devices. This is important because the frequencies spanned by polaritons are at the interface between photonic and electronic devices. This work will also help to develop readout schemes for other atomic based devices that can be integrated into atom chips and interfaced to conventional electronics.