Robust control and optimal Rydberg states for neutral atom two-qubit gates

We investigate the robustness of two-qubit gates to deviations of experimental controls on a neutral atom platform utilizing Rydberg states. We construct robust controlled-Z gates - employing techniques from quantum optimal control - that retain high Bell-state fidelity F>0.999 in the presence of significant deviations of the coupling strength to the Rydberg state. Such deviations can arise from laser intensity noise and atomic motion in an inhomogeneous coupling field. We also discuss methods to mitigate errors due to deviations of the laser detuning. The designed pulses operate on timescales that are short compared to the fundamental decay timescale set by spontaneous emission and blackbody radiation. We account for the finite lifetime of the Rydberg state in both the optimization and fidelity calculations - this makes the gates conducive to noisy intermediate-scale quantum experiments, meaning that our protocols can reduce infidelity on near-term quantum computing devices. We calculate physical properties associated with infidelity for strontium-88 atoms - including lifetimes, polarizabilities, and blockade strengths - and use these calculations to identify optimal Rydberg states for our protocols, which allows for further minimization of infidelity.