Universal quantum gates using nuclear spin qubits in an optical tweezer array of ¹⁷¹Yb atoms

Rydberg-mediated entanglement between neutral atoms in optical tweezer arrays is a rapidly developing platform for quantum science. An emerging frontier within this field is the use of alkaline earth-like atoms (AEAs) such as ytterbium (Yb). The rich internal structure of these atoms affords numerous unique capabilities, including narrow-line cooling and imaging [1], an optically active ion core for Rydberg state trapping [2] and gate addressing [3], and, in fermionic isotopes, highly coherent qubit storage in the nuclear spin. In this talk, we present a universal set of quantum gate operations on a qubit in the I=½ nucleus of ¹⁷¹Yb [4]. We observe long qubit coherence times, T₂* = 1.24(5) s due to the negligible differential light shift on the qubit state from the optical tweezer. We also demonstrate single-qubit gate operations with a randomized benchmarking fidelity F_1Q = 0.99959(6), as well as entangling gates through the Rydberg state.

[1] S Saskin et al. PRL 122, 143002 (2019)

[2] J Wilson et al. PRL 128, 033201 (2022)

[3] A P Burgers et al. arXiv: 2110.06902 (2021)

[4] S Ma et al. arXiv: 2112.06799 (2021)