Kai Voges (Imperial College, London)
Developing a hybrid tweezer array of ultracold molecules and Rydberg atoms
Tweezer arrays of neutral particles are known for their diverse applications in quantum science and technology. Their advantages lie in flexible architecture, dynamic rearrangement and scalability. Combined with high-resolution imaging, single-particle addressing and long-range interaction, tweezer arrays are ideally suited for quantum computation and simulation approaches. The particles used so far mainly include Rydberg atoms with very large electric dipole moments and polar molecules with their rich internal level structure and tuneable interactions.
In this talk I will present our efforts to build a hybrid tweezer array using both ultracold molecules and atoms. In our case, we focus on laser-coolable CaF molecules and Rb atoms. I will discuss the advantages and challenges of using such a hybrid system and present our preparation schemes for the molecules and atoms. Besides, I will show our effort in trapping the atoms and molecules and present our ideas for loading both species into tweezer arrays.