The glowing dots in these images are single rubidium atoms, pristinely arranged in arrays about as wide as a human hair. The team of CQT Principal Investigator Loh Huanqian captured these pictures to show how they can assemble atoms into any pattern—even Singapore's Lion Head symbol—fitting within a 15 by 15 triangular grid. The researchers describe the setup and novel algorithm that makes this possible in a paper published 15 March 2023 in Physical Review Applied.
Researchers are keen to work with arrays of neutral atoms because, like Lego blocks that can be assembled into prototype buildings, atom arrays can be used to perform powerful quantum simulations of materials. Already scientists use supercomputers to calculate material properties, but the calculations quickly become intractable if you try to simulate more particles. With an atom array, scientists can model materials directly.
The CQT group's approach allowed them to achieve a state-of-the-art defect-free array size of 225 atoms reliably at room temperature. Perfection in the pattern is important because defects, or missing atoms, in an array have been found to deteriorate the observed signal in quantum simulations.
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