Optical Tweezers
Tightly focused laser beams used to trap and hold individual atoms or particles in precise positions. A key tool in neutral atom quantum computing.
Optical tweezers use a tightly focused laser beam to create an intensity gradient that acts as a force on atoms, trapping them at the point of highest laser intensity. By moving the laser, the trapped atom can be physically repositioned.
In neutral atom quantum computing, arrays of optical tweezers hold individual atoms in precise geometric arrangements. The arrangement can be reconfigured dynamically, allowing algorithms that require specific qubit connectivity patterns.
Arthur Ashkin developed optical tweezers for use with biological cells, for which he received the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics. The technique's application to atoms builds on the laser cooling work of the 1980s and 1990s.
Atom Computing and Infleqtion, both in Boulder, use optical tweezer arrays as the core mechanism for holding and arranging their neutral atom qubits. Adam Kaufman, hired by Google's Boulder lab in 2026, is specifically an expert in optical tweezer quantum systems.