Research Overview
Our group works at the intersection of atomic physics, quantum optics, and quantum information science. The central goal is to build a scalable neutral-atom quantum computing and simulation platform using laser-cooled Ytterbium (Yb) and Rubidium (Rb) atoms held in optical tweezer arrays.
Achieving this requires mastering a chain of challenging steps: laser cooling atoms from room temperature down to a few microkelvin, trapping single atoms in tightly focused optical tweezers, arranging them into defect-free arrays using holographic techniques, driving high-fidelity single- and multi-qubit gate operations, and harnessing the enormous interaction strength of Rydberg states to entangle neighboring atoms.
In parallel we pursue shorter-term projects in atomic coherence, electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), magnetometry, and optical-frequency metrology - areas that sharpen our experimental toolbox and yield independent scientific contributions.
Research Areas
Laser Cooling & Trapping
We cool Rb and Yb atoms from room temperature to a few microkelvin using Zeeman slowers, magneto-optical traps (MOTs), and sub-Doppler cooling techniques. Achieving deep cooling is the essential first step for all downstream quantum control experiments.
Optical Tweezer Arrays
Individual atoms are trapped in diffraction-limited optical tweezers formed by tightly focused laser beams. Using spatial light modulators (SLMs) and acousto-optic deflectors we generate reconfigurable arrays and sort atoms into defect-free registers - the hardware backbone of our quantum processor.
Single-Qubit Operations
Hyperfine ground states of 87Rb serve as the qubit basis. We drive high-fidelity single-qubit rotations using precisely controlled microwave and optical Raman pulses, characterising gate performance through randomised benchmarking and process tomography.
Rydberg Excitation & Blockade
Exciting atoms to high-n Rydberg states produces enormous dipole-dipole interactions that can suppress double excitation within a blockade radius - the key mechanism for two-qubit entangling gates. We study blockade dynamics, gate fidelity, and decoherence in the Rydberg manifold.
Atomic Coherence & EIT
We exploit quantum coherence effects such as electromagnetically induced transparency, coherent population trapping, and slow/stored light to study light-matter interaction at the quantum level and explore applications in quantum memory and precision sensing.
Spectroscopy & Metrology
High-resolution saturated absorption spectroscopy, frequency stabilisation via the Pound-Drever-Hall technique, and optical frequency metrology of narrow atomic transitions in Rb and Yb provide ultra-stable laser references for our experiments and contribute to precision measurement science.
Key Experimental Techniques
ECDLs locked via PDH to high-finesse cavities; EOMs and AOMs for precise frequency control.
Custom UHV chambers operating below 10-10 Torr for long atomic coherence times.
ARTIQ/Sinara and Red Pitaya platforms for sub-microsecond timing sequences across all lab hardware.
sCMOS and EMCCD cameras with high-NA objectives for quantum-state-resolved atom detection.
Spatial light modulators and WGS algorithms to generate and reconfigure arbitrary tweezer arrays.
Python (NumPy, QuTiP, Qiskit) for master-equation and MCWF simulations of qubit dynamics.