Trapping single atoms on a nanophotonic circuit with configurable tweezer lattices

May E Kim,Chen-Lung Hung,Brian M Fields,Tzu-Han Chang,Cheng-An Chen

doi:10.1038/s41467-019-09635-7

Abstract

Trapped atoms near nanophotonics form an exciting platform for bottom-up synthesis of strongly interacting quantum matter. The ability to induce tunable long-range atom-atom interactions with photons presents an opportunity to explore many-body physics and quantum optics. Here we implement a configurable optical tweezer array over a planar photonic circuit tailored for cold atom integration and control for trapping and high-fidelity imaging of one or more atoms in an array directly on a photonic structure. Using an optical conveyor belt formed by a moving optical lattice within a tweezer potential, we show that single atoms can be transported from a reservoir into close proximity of a photonic interface, potentially allowing for the synthesis of a defect-free atom-nanophotonic hybrid lattice. Our experimental platform can be integrated with generic planar photonic waveguides and resonators, promising a pathway towards on-chip many-body quantum optics and applications in quantum technology.

Highlights

Trapped atoms near nanophotonics form an exciting platform for bottom-up synthesis of strongly interacting quantum matter
We show that such a tweezer lattice can be converted into an optical conveyor belt, transporting trapped atoms into or out of the tweezer focus for vertical positioning near the planar dielectrics for atom-nanophotonics lattice assembly
We project an array of tweezer beams on top of the membrane through the control of a pair of acousto-optic deflectors (AODs)

Summary

Introduction

Trapped atoms near nanophotonics form an exciting platform for bottom-up synthesis of strongly interacting quantum matter. There is strong motivation to migrate cold atoms to planar photonic platforms, which may offer a wide variety of quantum functionalities with increased dimensionality and scalability Planar structures, such as twodimensional (2D) photonic crystals[4,17,18] or coupled resonator optical waveguides[19], can induce coupling between atoms and photons with engineered chiral quantum transport[20] and nonisotropic interactions[21], making it possible to explore topological physics[19,22,23,24] or vacuum induced quantum phase transitions[4]. We show that such a tweezer lattice can be converted into an optical conveyor belt, transporting trapped atoms into or out of the tweezer focus for vertical positioning near the planar dielectrics for atom-nanophotonics lattice assembly

Methods

Results

Conclusion