A Programmable Yb-171 Atom Array for Quantum Information Science

Atoms trapped in arrays of optical tweezers provide a scalable and versatile platform for applications in quantum computing, simulation and metrology. Recently, Yb-171 has emerged as an ideal candidate for these applications due to the availability of multiple qubit manifolds such as the OMG architecture, and narrow-line cooling and imaging transitions. These features enable high-fidelity qubit control, rapid readout, continuous reloading of atoms, and efficient erasure conversion. Here, we present progress on the development of a scalable and programmable Yb-171 atom array. To enable rapid loading and high-fidelity control, our apparatus utilizes a dual-wavelength core-shell magneto-optical trap integrated with an optical tweezer platform. Our architecture leverages fast spatial light modulators to generate versatile atom-array geometries and enable AI-assisted rearrangement, combined with acousto-optic deflectors for long-distance coherent transport. This system is designed to scale to hundreds of qubits, providing a large-scale testbed for exploring many-body physics with strong Rydberg-mediated interactions. Specifically, we discuss a path towards large-scale quantum simulations of lattice gauge field theories and exotic quantum magnetism near criticality, both in and out of equilibrium, together with a strategy for efficiently certifying the resulting many-body states and entanglement dynamics.