Tue May 6, 2025 4:00 pm
CUA Seminar: Tilman Pfau – Novel qubits for the neutral atom platform
Location:MIT 4-270
Tilman Pfau,
5th Institute of Physics, University of Stuttgart
In the first part of the talk, I will discuss our endeavor to realize a gate-based quantum computer involving a novel fine-structure qubit encoded in the metastable 3P0 and 3P2 states of strontium [1]. We have recently implemented this qubit for the first time and measured its coherence in a magic optical tweezer, which is enabled by tuning the tensor polarizability of the 3P2 via a control magnetic field.
In the second part I will present work on a novel Rydberg qubit encoded in circular states of strontium atoms in optical tweezers. Circular Rydberg states promise orders-of-magnitude longer lifetimes compared to their low-L counterparts, which allows for overcoming fundamental limitations in the coherence properties of Rydberg atom based quantum simulators. We have recently demonstrated efficient transfer into high-n circular Rydberg atoms with n=79, and showed trapping of the circular state enabled via the second available valence electron of the Sr atom [2].
These results open exciting prospects for exploiting the unique properties of two-valence electron atoms for quantum computation and simulation.
References
- [1] Unnikrishnan et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 132, 150606 (2024)
- [2] Hölzl et al., Phys. Rev. X 14, 021024 (2024)