Loading Strontium Atoms in Arrays of Optical Tweezers

Neutral atoms trapped in optical tweezers show promise as an implementation of quantum computation. For example, the number of qubits can be scaled naturally by increasing the tweezer laser power. In Eindhoven, we are constructing a tweezer machine that features strontium-88 atoms in an array of focused laser beams (optical tweezers). The chosen qubit states are 1S0 and 3P0, which are connected by the doubly forbidden clock transition. Site-selective control of the clock laser onto the qubits will be done with the help of acousto-optic deflectors. Entanglement will be generated by coupling the 3P0 state to a 3S1 Rydberg state using 317 nm laser pulses. The quantum processor will run hybrid variational algorithms, for example, pulse-based optimization algorithms, whereby the quantum processor operates in tandem with a classical processor. On the poster, we will showcase recent progress towards this goal: elaborating on the apparatus design and presenting experimental results on trapping ultra-cold strontium atoms in "blue" and "red" magneto-optical traps, as well as optical tweezers.