Entangled Atom Pair Quantum Processor

Entanglement is the main feature of quantum mechanics that makes it distinct from classical physics. The generation, manipulation, and detection of entanglement are the essential components of quantum research. Due to the great significance, the Nobel Prize in Physics 2022 was awarded to scientists for entanglement experiments and pioneering quantum science and technologies. As an emerging field of physics and engineering, quantum technology experienced explosive development in the last two decades. Among numerous physical platforms, neutral atom devices exhibit many unique features in the aspects of diverse configurations, high scalability, long coherence time, high degree of control, and deterministic detection. Many advanced quantum technologies based on atoms are desiderated for solving scientific problems and developing quantum applications. This project aims to develop an atom optics platform to implement quantum entanglement techniques with the advantages of ultracold atoms. The dissociation of a diatomic molecule creates nonlocal entanglement between two fermions in a pair. This process constitutes a deterministic entanglement source, and the atoms can be addressed, manipulated, and detected individually with ultra-high fidelity. The guided atomic matter waves in tailored potentials constitute a versatile platform to replicate successful elements. In the long term, we envision developing a fully programmable atom-optics processor and integrating it into robust, large, complex atomtronics devices. The platform will be built based on the Lithium-6 ultracold quantum gas experiment in Atominstitut, TU Wien. Experiments will be conducted in multiple 1D optical waveguides parallelly arranged in a single layer. A trapping site at the center of each waveguide will be initialized with a single 6 Li2 molecule, and the subsequent molecular dissociation creates entanglement between two emerging atoms launched into waveguides. Tens to hundreds of parallel waveguides allow us to scale up the number of qubits. We will employ radio-frequency pulses to flip the target atoms addressed by selectively shifting their resonance frequencies with tailored focused laser beams. Two qubit states will be individually probed in situ at single-atom sensitivity. A successful demonstration of this research will enable a novel atom optics quantum processor similar to the photonic quantum information processors but mitigates their disadvantages. This will allow building a new, atom-optical platform into the quantum information community and provide new opportunities ranging from experiments for fundamental quantum physics to developing quantum technologies.