Developing a Hybrid Tweezer Array of Rydberg Atoms and Polar Molecules

Hybrid tweezer arrays of atoms and molecules are a new and innovative tool for quantum science and technology. Tweezer arrays allow for flexible and dynamical trap scenarios. With their rich level structures and long rotational state coherence times, molecules are ideal for storing quantum information and make excellent qubits. Their interactions can be enhanced enormously by using Rydberg atoms to mediate long-range dipole-dipole interactions. This platform presents an interesting approach to quantum simulation [1] and computing [2,3].

Here, I present our efforts to build such a hybrid tweezer array using ultracold Rb atoms and CaF molecules. I discuss the advantages and challenges of multispecies hybrid systems and present our schemes for preparing ultracold Rb atoms and CaF molecules. I further show our recent progress in atom and molecule cooling and the loading, characterisation and improvement of our tweezer arrays with atoms. Finally, I present our ideas for independent loading of both species into tweezer arrays using a dual-color tweezer approach to prevent crosstalk between the two species.

[1] J. Dobrzyniecki et al., PRA 108, 052618 (2023)
[2] C. Zhang et al., PRX Quantum 3, 030340 (2022)
[3] K. Wang et al., PRX Quantum 3, 030339 (2022)