Optically Trapped Atomic Qubits

Ultracold neutral atoms have emerged as a leading platform for scalable quantum simulation, but can they be similarly used for gate-based quantum computation? In this talk, I will present an overview of major accomplishments in academia that have spurred multiple different startups to enter the quantum computing race, focusing on the use of neutral atoms as a scalable qubit platform. With these proof of principle demonstrations in mind, I will describe Atom Computing's first prototype system and recently announced use of a unique qubit to achieve bare coherence times in excess of 20 seconds. Utilizing qubit states that are broadly insensitive to the environment they are trapped in, this system is quickly becoming a testbed for how to build programmatic control into neutral atom systems that rivals other leading quantum computing platforms.