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

在寻求可控制和可扩展的量子技术时，具有强大相干的量子系统是必不可少的。例如，构建可以以最高精度测量时间、电磁力和重力的量子传感器，以及未来的量子计算机，都需要高度相干的量子系统，这将承诺将数据处理速度提高到传统的基于硅的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，如核自旋、电子自旋或电子激发。这个项目将证明，相干可以被提升，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，在有序原子阵列中，单个原子将被困在近距离。在这种特殊的安排中，原子将相互作用，预计将显示亚辐射--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的概念，研究人员将开发和实现一种新型的纳米光子平台，用光学镊子来捕获和定位单个原子，光学镊子是由激光制成的微型陷阱。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的本科生和研究生，从而形成一支训练有素的量子科学和技术队伍。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的专业知识。该实验系统将依赖于激光冷却的锶原子阵列，这些原子被光镊子捕获，间距为亚微米。镊子阵列将通过全息空间光调制器投影产生，该调制器将允许对捕获光场的强度和相位进行独立控制，并能够以前所未有的精度和高速可调谐产生光学阵列。由于原子间的距离与原子的共振波长相当，光子发射中的干涉会产生强关联的原子态，这些原子态不会衰变，因此与自由空间中的单个原子相比，具有更长的相干时间。研究人员将在理论和实验上开发协议，使人们能够访问和利用这些奇异量子态的非传统物理属性。该项目由量子飞跃大创意计划和国际科学与工程办公室联合资助。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.