Giant atoms ‘caught’ for record time at room temperature

Giant atoms just got a boost as content players to produce the best quantum simulators and computers as researchers checked them for a long time for a space temperature experiment.

Grab an atom, set its quantum properties with electromagnetic impulses or laser light – change the energies of its electrons – and you can use it to code information. Do this with thousands of atoms and you have a quantum computer or a simulator for exotic quantum materials. After a while, however, atoms can spontaneously change their condition that introduces errors. They are only controllable and therefore useful during a limited “lifetime”, which was previously a maximum of 1400 seconds for room-table experience. Researchers have been able to catch atoms long, but these approaches required the white setup to be placed in a huge refrigerator, logistical challenges.

Zhenpu Zhang and Cindy Regal at the University of Colorado Boulder and their Colleugues now have Shanro-Clip, the used Rydberg atoms, which are super-sized in diameter due to their electrons are far from their cores. The team loaded the atoms in a container that had been emptied of all air particles that could disturb them, and then grab each atom with lasers or “optical tweezers”. This is a standard way to control Rydberg atoms that are extremely sensitive to electromagnetic fields and lights.

The researchers also added a layer of copper to the sides of the container and then cooled cooled to -269 ° C (-452 ° F). This protected the atoms from heat that can change their statistics. In addition, Zhang says that all stray air particles were attached to the copper covering, similar to how hot water droplets are condensed on a cold surface, which improves the vacuum inside the container. Therefore, the team could keep the atoms trapped and well controlled for about 50 minutes-3000 seconds or about twice as long as similar previous experiences.

Zhang began building this setup about five years ago from almost scratch, says Regal. “This is like a total renewal of how you are thinking of doing these experiment,” she says.

Clément Saider at Kastler Brossel Laboratory in France says the new approach could make it possible to manipulative multiple atoms, which would increase the computing power of any computer or simulator made by them. “Three thousand seconds are very long. You have to work hard to have these long life for these atoms,” he says. However, having more atoms in the chamber would also mean having to use more lasers to control them, which can reduce the life of the atoms, so there are still more technical challenges, says Sayrin.