Towards a dual-species Rydberg atom quantum simulator

Neutral atoms in optical tweezer arrays have emerged as a powerful and flexible platform for quantum science, allowing for the study of quantum spin models and high fidelity quantum logic operations. These individually trapped and detected atoms interact strongly and controllably via excitation into Rydberg states. Current efforts have mostly focused on using a single atomic species, but using two species offers several advantages. Substantially different resonant frequencies of the two species allow excellent spectral resolution, providing low cross talk qubits with a few microns spacing. Moreover, the interaction between two elements can be tuned via the Rydberg states they are excited to, providing an extra degree of freedom for quantum simulators. In addition, one species can act as an auxiliary qubit to manipulate and measure the quantum state of the qubits formed by the other species. We are working towards a dual-species Rydberg quantum simulator, based on deterministically prepared optical tweezer arrays of ground state cooled Na and Cs atoms. Excitation to various Rydberg states with different interaction potentials is also being explored and implemented.