Ancilla-based toolbox and algorithmic cooling for neutral-atom array experiments

Neutral atom arrays have seen tremendous progress in quantum simulation, quantum metrology, and fault-tolerant quantum computing. However, hardware constraints such as atom loss and heating from trapping light remain significant challenges. In this work, we introduce a comprehensive ancilla-based toolbox for optical tweezer experiments that utilizes high-fidelity Rydberg entangling gates and ancilla atoms to mitigate these physical limitations. First, we demonstrate repeated ancilla-based atom loss detection, achieving improved detection fidelity over multiple rounds with minimal perturbation to data atoms. Second, leveraging the quantized motional states in tweezer-trapped strontium atoms, we can transduce quantum information from the electronic to the motional manifold. This enables us to perform ancilla-based atom loss detection in a fully coherence-preserving fashion. Finally, we demonstrate algorithmic cooling, a circuit-based sequence that deterministically cools data atoms by transferring their motional entropy to the electronic states of ancilla atoms. We observe a marked reduction in the atomic temperature of data atoms experimentally. These tools offer a pathway to continuous operation in tweezer clocks and complement recent developments in continuous reloading experiments.