Dual-Type, Dual-Species ¹⁷¹Yb-⁸⁷Rb Atom Arrays and Inter-Species Rydberg Interactions

Optical tweezer arrays of individually trapped atoms have emerged as a promising platform for quantum computation and simulation. However, several challenges remain in this platform, including low experimental repetition rates, scalable local addressability, and non-destructive, fast, selective qubit readout. To overcome these challenges, we are developing a novel dual-type, dual-species ¹⁷¹Yb-⁸⁷Rb atom array architecture, designed to explore cutting-edge topics in quantum information dynamics with the long-term goal aiming for fault-tolerant quantum computation. In this system, single ¹⁷¹Yb atoms, known for their long nuclear spin coherence times, serve as data qubits, while ensembles of ⁸⁷Rb atoms, which exhibit enhanced collective response, function as ancillas to enable reconfigurable local operations, fast non-destructive readout and repetitive quantum error syndrome detection. A key requirement for realizing these capabilities is the ability to control interactions between Rydberg states of Yb and Rb. To this end, we have built a dedicated experiment to characterize the Yb-Rb Rydberg pair interactions, focusing on high-precision spectroscopic measurements and the development of interaction engineering techniques. These studies will allow us to benchmark theoretical models of Rydberg states in multi-valence-electron atoms and advance the-state-of-art performance of quantum processor based on neutral atom arrays.