Molecules in Optical Tweezer Arrays: A New Platform for Quantum Science

Lawrence Cheuk presents experiments using laser-cooled polar molecules held in optical-tweezer arrays. Molecular internal states and electric-dipole interactions provide resources for quantum computation, simulation and precision measurement. The talk covers preparation, control and detection of individual molecules; two-qubit operations and deterministic molecular entanglement; and one-dimensional spin simulations. Those experiments examine how spin excitations move, form bound pairs and undergo coherent pair creation and removal. A second set of experiments generates molecular spin-squeezed states and uses spatially resolved measurements to investigate reduced measurement noise, bipartite entanglement and Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering. Preliminary progress toward larger arrays may also be discussed. The Donald R. Hamilton Colloquium takes place in Jadwin Hall A-10 at Princeton University.