Towards Quantum Simulations with Strontium Atoms

Cold atom platforms with single particle/spin detection and control offer fascinating opportunities for emerging quantum technologies. Among quantum simulators trapped atoms in programmable optical tweezer arrays and excited to Rydberg states are well-suited systems to study quantum spin models and open interesting perspectives for quantum computation. Yet, simulating fermions on such systems remains a long-standing goal and the study of three-dimensional problems on arbitrary lattice structures is still to be explored. A complementary platform for quantum simulation is a quantum gas microscope where large atomic clouds are trapped in optical lattices. Whereas quantum statistics and itinerant models are natively implemented in these experiments, the current lack of programmability and long cycle time limit their capabilities. Our vision to overcome these challenges in quantum simulation is to combine atom manipulation using optical tweezers with quantum gas microscopy on a unique quantum simulation platform. We report on the development of a new quantum simulation apparatus operating with strontium with which we aim to study topological phases in three-dimensional frustrated spin systems and the SU(N) Fermi-Hubbard model.