arXiv subjects

Mark Saffman

Publications and source records attributed to Mark Saffman.

35 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

Quantum Simulators: Architectures and Opportunities

Quantum simulators are a promising technology on the spectrum of quantum devices from specialized quantum experiments to universal quantum computers. These quantum devices utilize entanglement and many-particle behaviors to explore and solve hard scientific, engineering, and computational problems. Rapid development over the last two decades has produced more than 300 quantum simulators in operation worldwide using a wide variety of experimental platforms. Recent advances in several physical architectures promise a golden age of quantum simulators ranging from highly optimized special purpose simulators to flexible programmable devices. These developments have enabled a convergence of ideas drawn from fundamental physics, computer science, and device engineering. They have strong potential to address problems of societal importance, ranging from understanding vital chemical processes, to enabling the design of new materials with enhanced performance, to solving complex computational problems. It is the position of the community, as represented by participants of the NSF workshop on "Programmable Quantum Simulators," that investment in a national quantum simulator program is a high priority in order to accelerate the progress in this field and to result in the first practical applications of quantum machines. Such a program should address two areas of emphasis: (1) support for creating quantum simulator prototypes usable by the broader scientific community, complementary to the present universal quantum computer effort in industry; and (2) support for fundamental research carried out by a blend of multi-investigator, multi-disciplinary collaborations with resources for quantum simulator software, hardware, and education.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Perspectives on quantum transduction

Quantum transduction, the process of converting quantum signals from one form of energy to another, is an important area of quantum science and technology. The present perspective article reviews quantum transduction between microwave and optical photons, an area that has recently seen a lot of activity and progress because of its relevance for connecting superconducting quantum processors over long distances, among other applications. Our review covers the leading approaches to achieving such transduction, with an emphasis on those based on atomic ensembles, opto-electromechanics, and electro-optics. We briefly discuss relevant metrics from the point of view of different applications, as well as challenges for the future.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Generation of 14.0W of single frequency light at 770 nm by intracavity frequency doubling

We present a continuous, narrow-linewidth, tunable laser system that outputs up to 14.0 W at 770 nm. The light is generated by frequency doubling 18.8 W of light from a 1540 nm fiber amplifier that is seeded by a single mode diode laser achieving >74% conversion efficiency. We utilize a Lithium Triborate Crystal in an enhancement ring cavity. The low intensity noise and narrow linewidth of the 770 nm output are suitable for cold atom experiments.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2019

Opportunities for Nuclear Physics & Quantum Information Science

This whitepaper is an outcome of the workshop Intersections between Nuclear Physics and Quantum Information held at Argonne National Laboratory on 28-30 March 2018 [www.phy.anl.gov/npqi2018/]. The workshop brought together 116 national and international experts in nuclear physics and quantum information science to explore opportunities for the two fields to collaborate on topics of interest to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics, and more broadly to U.S. society and industry. The workshop consisted of 22 invited and 10 contributed talks, as well as three panel discussion sessions. Topics discussed included quantum computation, quantum simulation, quantum sensing, nuclear physics detectors, nuclear many-body problem, entanglement at collider energies, and lattice gauge theories.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2019

Microwave to optical conversion with atoms on a superconducting chip

We describe a scheme to coherently convert a microwave photon of a superconducting co-planar waveguide resonator to an optical photon emitted into a well-defined temporal and spatial mode. The conversion is realized by a cold atomic ensemble trapped above the surface of the superconducting atom chip, near the antinode of the microwave cavity. The microwave photon couples to a strong Rydberg transition of the atoms that are also driven by a pair of laser fields with appropriate frequencies and wavevectors for an efficient wave-mixing process. With only few thousand atoms in an ensemble of moderate density, the microwave photon can be completely converted into an optical photon emitted with high probability into the phase matched direction and, e.g., fed into a fiber waveguide. This scheme operates in a free-space configuration, without requiring strong coupling of the atoms to a resonant optical cavity.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Microwave-to-optical conversion via four-wave-mixing in a cold ytterbium ensemble

Interfacing superconducting qubits with optical photons requires noise-free microwave-to-optical transducers, a technology currently not realized at the single-photon level. We propose to use four-wave-mixing in an ensemble of cold ytterbium (Yb) atoms prepared in the metastable 'clock' state. The parametric process uses two high-lying Rydberg states for bidirectional conversion between a 10 GHz microwave photon and an optical photon in the telecommunication E-band. To avoid noise photons due to spontaneous emission, we consider continuous operation far detuned from the intermediate states. We use an input-output formalism to predict conversion efficiencies of $\approx50\%$ with bandwidths of $\approx100$ kHz.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2017

High-fidelity Rydberg quantum gate via a two-atom dark state

We propose a two-qubit gate for neutral atoms in which one of the logical state components adiabatically follows a two-atom dark state formed by the laser coupling to a Rydberg state and a strong, resonant dipole-dipole exchange interaction between two Rydberg excited atoms. Our gate exhibits optimal scaling of the intrinsic error probability $E \propto (Bτ)^{-1}$ with the interatomic interaction strength $B$ and the Rydberg state lifetime $τ$. Moreover, the gate is resilient to variations in the interaction strength, and even for finite probability of double Rydberg excitation, the gate does not excite atomic motion and experiences no decoherence due to internal-translational entanglement.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Improved error thresholds for measurement-free error correction

Motivated by limitations and capabilities of neutral atom qubits, we examine whether measurement-free error correction can produce practical error thresholds. We show that this can be achieved by extracting redundant syndrome information, giving our procedure extra fault tolerance and eliminating the need for ancilla verification. The procedure is particularly favorable when multi-qubit gates are available for the correction step. Simulations of the bit-flip, Bacon-Shor, and Steane codes indicate that coherent error correction can produce threshold error rates that are on the order of $10^{-3}$ to $10^{-4}$---comparable with or better than measurement-based values, and much better than previous results for other coherent error correction schemes. This indicates that coherent error correction is worthy of serious consideration for achieving protected logical qubits.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2015

Grover search algorithm with Rydberg-blockaded atoms: Quantum Monte Carlo simulations

We consider the Grover search algorithm implementation for a quantum register of size $N = 2^k$ using k (or k +1) microwave- and laser-driven Rydberg-blockaded atoms, following the proposal by Mølmer, Isenhower, and Saffman [J. Phys. B 44, 184016 (2011)]. We suggest some simplifications for the microwave and laser couplings, and analyze the performance of the algorithm for up to k = 4 multilevel atoms under realistic experimental conditions using quantum stochastic (Monte-Carlo) wavefunction simulations.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2013

Atomic Fock State Preparation Using Rydberg Blockade

We use coherent excitation of 3-16 atom ensembles to demonstrate collective Rabi flopping mediated by Rydberg blockade. Using calibrated atom number measurements, we quantitatively confirm the expected $\sqrt{N}$ Rabi frequency enhancement to within 4%. The resulting atom number distributions are consistent with essentially perfect blockade. We then use collective Rabi $π$ pulses to produce ${\cal N}=1,2$ atom number Fock states with fidelities of 62% and 48% respectively. The ${\cal N}=2$ Fock state shows the collective Rabi frequency enhancement without corruption from atom number fluctuations.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2012

Entanglement of Two Atoms using Rydberg Blockade

Over the past few years we have built an apparatus to demonstrate the entanglement of neutral Rb atoms at optically resolvable distances using the strong interactions between Rydberg atoms. Here we review the basic physics involved in this process: loading of single atoms into individual traps, state initialization, state readout, single atom rotations, blockade-mediated manipulation of Rydberg atoms, and demonstration of entanglement.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2011

Efficient Grover search with Rydberg blockade

We present efficient methods to implement the quantum computing Grover search algorithm using the Rydberg blockade interaction. We show that simple pi-pulse excitation sequences between ground and Rydberg excited states readily produce the key conditional phase shift and inversion-about-the mean unitary operations for the Grover search. Multi-qubit implementation schemes suitable for different properties of the atomic interactions are identifed and the error scaling of the protocols with system size is found to be promising for immediate experimental investigation.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2010

Independent individual addressing of multiple neutral atom qubits with a MEMS beam steering system

We demonstrate a scalable approach to addressing multiple atomic qubits for use in quantum information processing. Individually trapped 87Rb atoms in a linear array are selectively manipulated with a single laser guided by a MEMS beam steering system. Single qubit oscillations are shown on multiple sites at frequencies of ~3.5 MHz with negligible crosstalk to neighboring sites. Switching times between the central atom and its closest neighbor were measured to be 6-7 us while moving between the central atom and an atom two trap sites away took 10-14 us.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2007

Doppler-free, Multi-wavelength Acousto-optic deflector for two-photon addressing arrays of Rb atoms in a Quantum Information Processor

We demonstrate a dual wavelength acousto-optic deflector (AOD) designed to deflect two wavelengths to the same angles by driving with two RF frequencies. The AOD is designed as a beam scanner to address two-photon transitions in a two-dimensional array of trapped neutral Rb atoms in a quantum computer. Momentum space is used to design AODs that have the same diffraction angles for two wavelengths (780 nm and 480 nm) and have non-overlapping Bragg-matched frequency response at these wavelengths, so that there will be no crosstalk when proportional RF frequencies are applied to diffract the two wavelengths. The appropriate crystal orientation, crystal shape, transducer size, and transducer height are determined for an AOD made with a Tellurium dioxide crystal (TeO2). The designed and fabricated AOD has more than 100 resolvable spots, widely separated bandshapes for the two wavelengths within an overall octave bandwidth, spatially overlapping diffraction angles for both wavelengths (780 nm and 480 nm), and a 4 usec or less access time. Cascaded AODs in which the first device upshifts and the second downshifts allow Doppler-free scanning as required for addressing the narrow atomic resonance without detuning. We experimentally show the diffraction-limited Doppler-free scanning performance and spatial resolution of the designed AOD.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2007

Error correction in ensemble registers for quantum repeaters and quantum computers

We propose to use a collective excitation blockade mechanism to identify errors that occur due to disturbances of single atoms in ensemble quantum registers where qubits are stored in the collective population of different internal atomic states. A simple error correction procedure and a simple decoherence-free encoding of ensemble qubits in the hyperfine states of alkali atoms are presented.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2006

Intensity correlations and entanglement by frequency doubling in a dual ported resonator

We show that non-classical intensity correlations and quadrature entanglement can be generated by frequency doubling in a resonator with two output ports. We predict twin-beam intensity correlations 6 dB below the coherent state limit, and that the product of the inference variances of the quadrature fluctuations gives an Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) correlation coefficient of V_EPR = 0.6 < 1. Comparison with an entanglement source based on combining two frequency doublers with a beam splitter shows that the dual ported resonator provides stronger entanglement at lower levels of individual beam squeezing. Calculations are performed using a self-consistent propagation method that does not invoke a mean field approximation. Results are given for physically realistic parameters that account for the Gaussian shape of the intracavity beams, as well as intracavity losses.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2004

Zeros of Rydberg-Rydberg Foster Interactions

Rydberg states of atoms are of great current interest for quantum manipulation of mesoscopic samples of atoms. Long-range Rydberg-Rydberg interactions can inhibit multiple excitations of atoms under the appropriate conditions. These interactions are strongest when resonant collisional processes give rise to long-range C_3/R^3 interactions. We show in this paper that even under resonant conditions C_3 often vanishes so that care is required to realize full dipole blockade in micron-sized atom samples.

physics.atom-ph↗