QII-TAQS: Enhancing Quantum Coherence by Dissipation in Programmable Atomic Arrays

具有鲁棒相干性的量子系统对于寻求可控制和可扩展的量子技术至关重要。例如，高度相干的量子系统需要用于构建量子传感器，它可以以最高的精度测量时间，电磁力和重力，以及未来的量子计算机，它有望将数据处理速度提高到传统硅基计算机技术无法实现的水平。然而，今天的大多数量子应用依赖于单个量子系统的有限相干性，例如核自旋、电子自旋或电子激发。这个项目将证明相干性可以超越单个量子系统的限制。研究人员将利用有序原子阵列中的集体效应，其中单个原子将被困在离得很近的地方。在这种特殊的排列中，原子将相互作用，并有望显示出亚辐射——一种防止原子失去内部量子激发的量子力学效应——这将提高原子量子系统的相干性。为了在实验上实现这些新概念，研究人员将开发并实现一种新的纳米光子平台，用激光制成的光学镊子捕获和定位单个原子。该项目将培养实验和理论原子物理、量子光学和纳米光子学方面的本科生和研究生，从而为量子科学和技术方面训练有素的劳动力做出贡献。该研究团队结合了理论量子光学、实验原子物理和纳米光子学方面的专业知识。实验系统将依赖于激光冷却的锶原子阵列，这些原子由亚微米间距的光镊捕获。镊子阵列将通过全息空间光调制器通过投影产生，该调制器将允许独立控制捕获光场的强度和相位，并使光学阵列的产生具有前所未有的精度和高速可调性。由于原子间距离与原子共振波长相当，光子发射中的干涉会产生强相关的原子状态，这些原子状态不会衰变，因此具有比自由空间中的单个原子更长的相干时间。研究人员将在理论上和实验上制定协议，以便能够访问和利用这些奇异量子态的非常规物理特性。本项目由量子飞跃大创意计划和国际科学与工程办公室共同资助。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Quantum systems with robust coherence are essential in the quest for controllable and scalable quantum technologies. For example, highly coherent quantum systems are needed for the construction of quantum sensors, which can measure time, electromagnetic forces, and gravity with the highest precision, and for a future quantum computer, which promises to speed up data processing to levels unachievable with conventional silicon-based computer technology. However, most of today's quantum applications rely on the limited coherence of individual quantum systems, such as nuclear spins, electron spins, or electronic excitations. This project will demonstrate that coherence can be boosted beyond the limitations of individual quantum systems. The researchers will exploit collective effects in ordered atomic arrays, in which individual atoms will be trapped in close proximity. In this special arrangement the atoms will interact and are expected to display subradiance - a quantum mechanical effect that prevents the atoms from losing internal quantum excitations - which will boost the coherence of atomic quantum systems. To realize these novel concepts experimentally, the researchers will develop and implement a novel nanophotonic platform to trap and position individual atoms with optical tweezers, miniature traps made out of laser light. The project will train undergraduate and graduate students in experimental and theoretical atomic physics, quantum optics, and nanophotonics, and thereby contribute to a highly trained workforce in quantum science and technology.The research team combines expertise in theoretical quantum optics, experimental atomic physics, and nanophotonics. The experimental system will rely on arrays of laser-cooled strontium atoms trapped by optical tweezers with sub-micrometer spacings. The tweezer array will be generated via projection through a holographic spatial light modulator that will allow for independent control of both the intensity and phase of the trapping light field and enable the generation of optical arrays with unprecedented accuracy and high-speed tunability. With interatomic distances comparable to the atomic resonance wavelength, interference in photon emission gives rise to strongly correlated atomic states that are protected from decay, and thus have substantially longer coherence times than a single atom in free space. The researchers will develop protocols, both theoretically and experimentally, that enable accessing and exploiting the unconventional physical properties of these exotic quantum states. This project is jointly funded by the Quantum Leap Big Idea Program and the Office of International Science and Engineering.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.