Pasqal Reports Trapping Four Atoms With Chip-Delivered Light
A photonic integrated circuit produced four rubidium-atom traps, with an approximately 27.5-second lifetime reported by the company.
Pasqal’s vacuum chamber and optical core, the closest company-supplied view of the neutral-atom hardware in the story. Image creditPhoto supplied by Pasqal and approved by Pasqal for media use. · https://www.pasqal.com/media-kit/
Pasqal reports trapping four rubidium atoms using light delivered through a photonic integrated circuit developed with Aeponyx. Moving optical functions onto a chip could reduce the size and complexity of neutral-atom control hardware. This demonstration tests an early piece of that approach.
The company describes four separate traps and an approximately 27.5-second trapping lifetime. Independent replication of the result has not been established.
Keeping atoms trapped does not establish high-fidelity gates, or delivery of Pasqal's larger future scale targets. Larger-array tests of gate performance, uniformity, stability and repeatability would help establish how far the approach can extend.