Gate-based readout and cooling of neutral atoms

Neutral atom arrays have seen tremendous progress in quantum simulation, quantum metrology, and fault-tolerant quantum computing. However, hardware constraints such as atom loss and heating remain significant challenges. In this work, we introduce a comprehensive ancilla-based toolbox for optical tweezer experiments that utilizes high-fidelity Rydberg entangling gates and ancilla atoms to mitigate these physical limitations. First, we demonstrate repeated ancilla-based atom readout, achieving improved detection fidelity over multiple rounds with minimal perturbation to data atoms. Second, leveraging the quantized motional states in tweezer-trapped strontium atoms, we transduce quantum information from the electronic to the motional manifold. This enables us to perform mid-circuit ancilla-based atom loss detection in a coherence-preserving fashion. Finally, we demonstrate algorithmic cooling, a circuit-based sequence that deterministically cools data atoms by transferring their motional entropy to the electronic states of ancilla atoms. We observe a marked reduction in the atomic temperature of data atoms. These tools offer a pathway to continuous operation in tweezer clocks and complement recent developments in continuous reloading experiments.

Authors

Publication Details

Journal
Physical Review Letters
Published
2026-11-09
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1103/8ncv-2mcx
Citations
6
Primary Topic
Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
7.28

Funders

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article

Gate-based readout and cooling of neutral atoms

Kon H. Leung, Richard Bing-Shiun Tsai, Lewis R. B. Picard, Manuel Endres et al.
6 citations
Physical Review Letters
Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates
7.28
article

Gate-based readout and cooling of neutral atoms

Kon H. Leung, Richard Bing-Shiun Tsai, Lewis R. B. Picard, Manuel Endres, Xiangkai Sun, Yuan Le
article en
6 citations

Abstract

Neutral atom arrays have seen tremendous progress in quantum simulation, quantum metrology, and fault-tolerant quantum computing. However, hardware constraints such as atom loss and heating remain significant challenges. In this work, we introduce a comprehensive ancilla-based toolbox for optical tweezer experiments that utilizes high-fidelity Rydberg entangling gates and ancilla atoms to mitigate these physical limitations. First, we demonstrate repeated ancilla-based atom readout, achieving improved detection fidelity over multiple rounds with minimal perturbation to data atoms. Second, leveraging the quantized motional states in tweezer-trapped strontium atoms, we transduce quantum information from the electronic to the motional manifold. This enables us to perform mid-circuit ancilla-based atom loss detection in a coherence-preserving fashion. Finally, we demonstrate algorithmic cooling, a circuit-based sequence that deterministically cools data atoms by transferring their motional entropy to the electronic states of ancilla atoms. We observe a marked reduction in the atomic temperature of data atoms. These tools offer a pathway to continuous operation in tweezer clocks and complement recent developments in continuous reloading experiments.

Physical Review Letters
National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, California Institute of Technology, Weston Havens Foundation, Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative, Institute for Quantum Information and Matter, California Institute of Technology, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Army Research Office
Openalex Percentile: Top 3%
Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates
7.28
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