A low-cost modular FPGA-based control system for neutral atom tweezer arrays
Abstract
We present the Quantum Atom Control Kit (QuACK), a low-cost FPGA-based control system that provides memory-efficient precise signal timing and low-delay measurement-based decision making for operating neutral atom optical tweezer array experiments. The system consists of an FPGA module connected to a host computer via USB 3.0 and multiple cable-connected modular daughterboards enabling a myriad of configurable I/O formats. In this work, digital input and output as well as analog outputs are demonstrated. Multiple experimental sequence segments can be encoded with 5 ns timing resolution. On-chip condition kernels enable fast branching between segments based on digital inputs, eliminating host intervention for time-critical decisions, while high-speed USB communication allows rapid sequence updates and host-level orchestration. We demonstrate initial system loading and rearranging neutral ytterbium-171 atoms in optical tweezers. The combination of high-resolution timing, on-chip logic, and distributed orchestration architecture makes this system well suited for atomic, molecular, and optical (AMO) experiments pursuing applications in quantum information science.
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BibTeX
@misc{ye2026lowcost,
title = {{A low-cost modular FPGA-based control system for neutral atom tweezer arrays}},
author = {Zeyu Ye and Varun Jorapur and Francesco Granato and Wanda Lindquist and David Peana and Isaac Both and Mouhamed Mbengue and Peter Mueller and Michael Bishof},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.25456},
eprint = {2609.25456},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.25456},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - A low-cost modular FPGA-based control system for neutral atom tweezer arrays
AU - Zeyu Ye
AU - Varun Jorapur
AU - Francesco Granato
AU - Wanda Lindquist
AU - David Peana
AU - Isaac Both
AU - Mouhamed Mbengue
AU - Peter Mueller
AU - Michael Bishof
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/21
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.25456
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.25456
AB - We present the Quantum Atom Control Kit (QuACK), a low-cost FPGA-based control system that provides memory-efficient precise signal timing and low-delay measurement-based decision making for operating neutral atom optical tweezer array experiments. The system consists of an FPGA module connected to a host computer via USB 3.0 and multiple cable-connected modular daughterboards enabling a myriad of configurable I/O formats. In this work, digital input and output as well as analog outputs are demonstrated. Multiple experimental sequence segments can be encoded with 5 ns timing resolution. On-chip condition kernels enable fast branching between segments based on digital inputs, eliminating host intervention for time-critical decisions, while high-speed USB communication allows rapid sequence updates and host-level orchestration. We demonstrate initial system loading and rearranging neutral ytterbium-171 atoms in optical tweezers. The combination of high-resolution timing, on-chip logic, and distributed orchestration architecture makes this system well suited for atomic, molecular, and optical (AMO) experiments pursuing applications in quantum information science.
ER -