Integrating an atom array with a nanophotonic chip for quantum networking

Arrays of neutral atoms trapped in optical tweezers have rapidly matured as a platform for quantum computing with recent demonstrations of high-fidelity operations, logical qubit encodings leveraging the system's reconfigurable connectivity, and scalability to thousands of qubits. One path towards further scaling these systems involves the addition of a photonic interface which can be used to distribute entanglement over long distances between multiple atom array modules. Here, we present on our recent results towards integrating an atom array system with a millimeter scale chip hosting more than one hundred nanophotonic cavities. Our chip's semi-open geometry enables straightforward integration with a free-space atom array. We demonstrate a background-free, multichromatic imaging method which enables us to perform high-fidelity, single-shot imaging near the dielectric surface of the nanophotonic chip. We verify that we can load atoms onto our cantilevered nanophotonic cavities at the submicron distances necessary to generate strong atom-cavity coupling. Finally, we review recent progress in the lab towards probing this atom-cavity interaction and demonstrating atom-photon entanglement.