A continuous source of cold Ytterbium atoms for quantum computing and metrology

Ytterbium-171 possesses several features that make it an attractive platform for quantum information science and quantum metrology. The ground-state and metastable nuclear-spin qubit is naturally robust due to the absence of hyperfine coupling, which strongly suppresses magnetic and trap sensitivity, enabling long coherence times without dynamical decoupling. In addition, the availability of an ultra-narrow optical clock transition enables coherent mapping of the qubit between the ground, metastable, and optical qubit, which is door-opening for new architectures for quantum computing and metrology.  

Despite recent advances in rapid, high-fidelity single- and two-qubit operations, a key challenge for the platform is atom loss, and, particularly, the time-scale for atom replacement. To address this challenge and enable a scalable digital quantum processor capable of executing deep circuits with high fidelity, we are developing a second-generation apparatus that incorporates a travelling-wave lattice to deliver ~10,000 cold atoms every ~5 ms to a science region. We will present our progress toward creating and controlling nuclear and clock qubits at high repetition rates and benchmark their performance for quantum computing and sensing applications.