- Physical Review Journals
All JournalsPhysics Magazine

Physical Review Applied

Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Editors' Suggestion
  • Open Access

Model-based real-time synthesis of acousto-optically generated laser-beam patterns and tweezer arrays

Marcel Mittenbühler1, Lukas Sturm1, Malte Schlosser1, and Gerhard Birkl1,2,*

  • 1Technische Universität Darmstadt, Institut für Angewandte Physik, Schlossgartenstraße 7, 64289 Darmstadt, Germany
  • 2Helmholtz Forschungsakademie Hessen für FAIR (HFHF), GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, 64291 Darmstadt, Germany

PDF

Phys. Rev. Applied 24, 064046 – Published 17 December, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/d3tx-3tg8

Abstract

Acousto-optic deflectors (AODs) enable spatiotemporal control of laser beams through diffraction at an ultrasonic grating that is controllable by radio-frequency (rf) waveforms. These devices are a widely used tool for high-bandwidth random-access scanning applications, such as optical tweezers in quantum technology. A single AOD can generate multiple optical tweezers by multitone rf input in one dimension. Two-dimensional (2D) patterns can be realized with two perpendicularly oriented AODs. As the acousto-optical response depends nonlinearly on the applied frequency components, phases, and amplitudes, and in addition experiences dimensional coupling in 2D setups, intensity regulation becomes a unique challenge. Guided by coupled-wave theory and experimental observations, we derive a compute-efficient model which we implement on a graphics processing unit. Only one-time sampling of single-tone laser-power calibration is needed for model parameter determination, allowing for straightforward integration into optical instruments. We implement and experimentally validate an open-loop diffraction efficiency control system that enables programmable 2D multibeam trajectories with intensity control applied at every time step during digital signal generation, overcoming the limited flexibility, pattern-size constraints, and bandwidth limitations of methods using precalculation and precalibration of a predefined pattern set or closed-loop feedback. The system is capable of stable real-time waveform streaming of arrays with up to 50×50 tweezers with minimal time resolution of 1.4 ns (700 MS/s) and a peak latency below 257 µs for execution of newly requested patterns. Reactive, real-time 2D multibeam laser patterning and scanning with strict intensity matching will substantially benefit parallelization and increasing data rates in materials processing, microscopy, and applications of optical tweezers, where the work presented is of immediate relevance for time-critical conditional operations with minimal latency.

View figure in article

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (80)

  1. T. Pinheiro, M. Morais, S. Silvestre, E. Carlos, J. Coelho, H. V. Almeida, P. Barquinha, E. Fortunato, and R. Martins, Direct laser writing: From materials synthesis and conversion to electronic device processing, Adv. Mater. 36, 2402014 (2024).
  2. E. Skliutas, M. Lebedevaite, E. Kabouraki, T. Baldacchini, J. Ostrauskaite, M. Vamvakaki, M. Farsari, S. Juodkazis, and M. Malinauskas, Polymerization mechanisms initiated by spatio-temporally confined light, Nanophotonics 10, 1211 (2021).
  3. C. Arnoux, L. A. Pérez-Covarrubias, A. Khaldi, Q. Carlier, P. L. Baldeck, K. Heggarty, A. Banyasz, and C. Monnereau, Understanding and overcoming proximity effects in multi-spot two-photon direct laser writing, Addit. Manuf. 49, 102491 (2022).
  4. P. O. Bayguinov, D. M. Oakley, C.-C. Shih, D. J. Geanon, M. S. Joens, and J. A. J. Fitzpatrick, Modern laser scanning confocal microscopy, Curr. Protoc. Cytometry 85, e39 (2018).
  5. A. D. Elliott, Confocal microscopy: Principles and modern practices, Curr. Protoc. Cytometry 92, e68 (2020).
  6. M. Duocastella, S. Surdo, A. Zunino, A. Diaspro, and P. Saggau, Acousto-optic systems for advanced microscopy, J. Phys.: Photonics 3, 012004 (2021).
  7. D. Mahecic, D. Gambarotto, K. M. Douglass, D. Fortun, N. Banterle, K. A. Ibrahim, M. Le Guennec, P. Gönczy, V. Hamel, P. Guichard, and S. Manley, Homogeneous multifocal excitation for high-throughput super-resolution imaging, Nat. Methods 17, 726 (2020).
  8. A. Ashkin, Optical trapping and manipulation of neutral particles using lasers, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 94, 4853 (1997).
  9. J. Gieseler, J. R. Gomez-Solano, A. Magazzù, I. P. Castillo, L. P. García, M. Gironella-Torrent, X. Viader-Godoy, F. Ritort, G. Pesce, A. V. Arzola, K. Volke-Sepúlveda, and G. Volpe, Optical tweezers—from calibration to applications: A tutorial, Adv. Opt. Photon. 13, 74 (2021).
  10. J. R. Moffitt, Y. R. Chemla, S. B. Smith, and C. Bustamante, Recent advances in optical tweezers, Annu. Rev. Biochem. 77, 205 (2008).
  11. P. Ricci, G. Sancataldo, V. Gavryusev, F. S. Pavone, P. Saggau, and M. Duocastella, Acousto-optic deflectors in experimental neuroscience: overview of theory and applications, J. Phys.: Photonics 6, 022001 (2024).
  12. C. Gonzalez-Ballestero, M. Aspelmeyer, L. Novotny, R. Quidant, and O. Romero-Isart, Levitodynamics: Levitation and control of microscopic objects in vacuum, Science 374, eabg3027 (2021).
  13. J. Yan, X. Yu, Z. V. Han, T. Li, and J. Zhang, On-demand assembly of optically levitated nanoparticle arrays in vacuum, Photon. Res. 11, 600 (2023).
  14. B. Siegel, G. Afek, C. Lowe, J. Wang, Y.-H. Tseng, T. W. Penny, and D. C. Moore, Optical levitation of arrays of microspheres, Phys. Rev. A 111, 033514 (2025).
  15. Y. Liu and K.-K. Ni, Bimolecular chemistry in the ultracold regime, Annu. Rev. Phys. Chem. 73, 73 (2022).
  16. A. A. Manshina, I. I. Tumkin, E. M. Khairullina, M. Mizoshiri, A. Ostendorf, S. A. Kulinich, S. Makarov, A. A. Kuchmizhak, and E. L. Gurevich, The second laser revolution in chemistry: Emerging laser technologies for precise fabrication of multifunctional nanomaterials and nanostructures, Adv. Funct. Mater. 34, 2405457 (2024).
  17. A. M. Kaufman and K.-K. Ni, Quantum science with optical tweezer arrays of ultracold atoms and molecules, Nat. Phys. 17, 1324 (2021).
  18. B. Cheng, X.-H. Deng, X. Gu, Y. He, G. Hu, P. Huang, J. Li, B.-C. Lin, D. Lu, Y. Lu, et al., Noisy intermediate-scale quantum computers, Front. Phys. 18, 21308 (2023).
  19. T. M. Graham, E. Oh, and M. Saffman, Multiscale architecture for fast optical addressing and control of large-scale qubit arrays, Appl. Opt. 62, 3242 (2023).
  20. G. Römer and P. Bechtold, Electro-optic and acousto-optic laser beam scanners, Phys. Procedia 56, 29 (2014).
  21. B. E. A. Saleh and M. C. Teich, in Fundamentals of Photonics (John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Hoboken, 1991), Chap. 20.
  22. I. Chang, in Handbook of Optics: Volume V (McGraw-Hill Prefessional, 2010), Chap. 6. (see also: Chap. 12 in Handbook of Optics: Volume II, New York, 1995).
  23. D. Trypogeorgos, T. Harte, A. Bonnin, and C. Foot, Precise shaping of laser light by an acousto-optic deflector, Opt. Express 21, 24837 (2013).
  24. L. R. B. Picard and M. Endres, A three-dimensional acousto-optic deflector, arXiv:2510.07633.
  25. Z. Guo, R. A. H. van Herk, E. J. D. Vredenbregt, and S. J. J. M. F. Kokkelmans, Acousto-optic lens for 3D shuttling of atoms in a neutral atom quantum computer, arXiv:2510.09398.
  26. Y.-H. Lu, N. Song, T. Xiang, J. Ho, T.-C. Lee, Z. Yan, and D. M. Stamper-Kurn, Astigmatism-free 3D optical tweezer control for rapid atom rearrangement, arXiv:2510.11451.
  27. L. Pause, L. Sturm, M. Mittenbühler, S. Amann, T. Preuschoff, D. Schäffner, M. Schlosser, and G. Birkl, Supercharged two-dimensional tweezer array with more than 1000 atomic qubits, Optica 11, 222 (2024).
  28. D. Schäffner, T. Schreiber, F. Lenz, M. Schlosser, and G. Birkl, Quantum sensing in tweezer arrays: Optical magnetometry on an individual-atom sensor grid, PRX Quantum 5, 010311 (2024).
  29. M. Schlosser, D. O. de Mello, D. Schäffner, T. Preuschoff, L. Kohfahl, and G. Birkl, Assembled arrays of Rydberg-interacting atoms, J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 53, 144001 (2020).
  30. H. Hwang, A. Byun, J. Park, S. de Léséleuc, and J. Ahn, Optical tweezers throw and catch single atoms, Optica 10, 401 (2023).
  31. C. M. Holland, Y. Lu, and L. W. Cheuk, On-demand entanglement of molecules in a reconfigurable optical tweezer array, Science 382, 1143 (2023).
  32. D. Bluvstein et al., Logical quantum processor based on reconfigurable atom arrays, Nature 626, 58 (2024).
  33. M. A. Norcia et al., Iterative assembly of 171Yb atom arrays with cavity-enhanced optical lattices, PRX Quantum 5, 030316 (2024).
  34. F. Gyger, M. Ammenwerth, R. Tao, H. Timme, S. Snigirev, I. Bloch, and J. Zeiher, Continuous operation of large-scale atom arrays in optical lattices, Phys. Rev. Res. 6, 033104 (2024).
  35. L. R. B. Picard, G. E. Patenotte, A. J. Park, S. F. Gebretsadkan, and K.-K. Ni, Site-selective preparation and multistate readout of molecules in optical tweezers, PRX Quantum 5, 020344 (2024).
  36. H. J. Manetsch, G. Nomura, E. Bataille, K. H. Leung, X. Lv, and M. Endres, A tweezer array with 6100 highly coherent atomic qubits, Nature 647, 60 (2025).
  37. S. Hwang, H. Hwang, K. Kim, A. Byun, K. Kim, S. Jeong, M. P. Soegianto, and J. Ahn, Fast and reliable atom transport by optical tweezers, Optica Quantum 3, 64 (2025).
  38. C. Cicali, M. Calzavara, E. Cuestas, T. Calarco, R. Zeier, and F. Motzoi, Fast neutral-atom transport and transfer between optical tweezers, Phys. Rev. Appl. 24, 024070 (2025).
  39. S. Kim, R. R. Mcleod, M. Saffman, and K. H. Wagner, Doppler-free, multiwavelength acousto-optic deflector for two-photon addressing arrays of Rb atoms in a quantum information processor, Appl. Opt. 47, 1816 (2008).
  40. K. Barnes, P. Battaglino, B. J. Bloom, K. Cassella, R. Coxe, N. Crisosto, J. P. King, S. S. Kondov, K. Kotru, S. C. Larsen, et al., Assembly and coherent control of a register of nuclear spin qubits, Nat. Commun. 13, 2779 (2022).
  41. Z. Z. Yan, B. M. Spar, M. L. Prichard, S. Chi, H.-T. Wei, E. Ibarra-García-Padilla, K. R. A. Hazzard, and W. S. Bakr, Two-dimensional programmable tweezer arrays of fermions, Phys. Rev. Lett. 129, 123201 (2022).
  42. A. Radnaev et al., Universal neutral-atom quantum computer with individual optical addressing and nondestructive readout, PRX Quantum 6, 030334 (2025).
  43. S. Yang, G. Masella, V. Moeini, A. Bellahsene, C. Li, T. Bienaimé, and S. Whitlock, Compact arbitrary optical waveform modulator with digital feedback, Phys. Rev. Appl. 23, 054009 (2025).
  44. N. Defenu, T. Donner, T. Macrì, G. Pagano, S. Ruffo, and A. Trombettoni, Long-range interacting quantum systems, Rev. Mod. Phys. 95, 035002 (2023).
  45. M. Morgado and S. Whitlock, Quantum simulation and computing with Rydberg-interacting qubits, AVS Quantum Sci. 3, 023501 (2021).
  46. S. L. Cornish, M. R. Tarbutt, and K. R. Hazzard, Quantum computation and quantum simulation with ultracold molecules, Nat. Phys. 20, 730 (2024).
  47. L. Pause, T. Preuschoff, D. Schäffner, M. Schlosser, and G. Birkl, Reservoir-based deterministic loading of single-atom tweezer arrays, Phys. Rev. Res. 5, L032009 (2023).
  48. N.-C. Chiu, E. C. Trapp, J. Guo, M. H. Abobeih, L. M. Stewart, S. Hollerith, P. Stroganov, M. Kalinowski, A. A. Geim, S. J. Evered, S. H. Li, L. M. Peters, D. Bluvstein, T. T. Wang, M. Greiner, V. Vuletić, and M. D. Lukin, Continuous operation of a coherent 3,000-qubit system, Nature 646, 1075 (2025).
  49. B. W. Reichardt et al., Logical computation demonstrated with a neutral atom quantum processor, arXiv:2411.11822.
  50. M. J. Bedalov et al., Fault-tolerant operation and materials science with neutral atom logical qubits, arXiv:2412.07670.
  51. P. S. Rodriguez et al., Experimental demonstration of logical magic state distillation, Nature 645, 620 (2025).
  52. K.-N. Schymik, V. Lienhard, D. Barredo, P. Scholl, H. Williams, A. Browaeys, and T. Lahaye, Enhanced atom-by-atom assembly of arbitrary tweezer arrays, Phys. Rev. A 102, 063107 (2020).
  53. W. Tian, W. J. Wee, A. Qu, B. J. M. Lim, P. R. Datla, V. P. W. Koh, and H. Loh, Parallel assembly of arbitrary defect-free atom arrays with a multitweezer algorithm, Phys. Rev. Appl. 19, 034048 (2023).
  54. M. A. Norcia et al., Midcircuit qubit measurement and rearrangement in a 171Yb atomic array, Phys. Rev. X 13, 041034 (2023).
  55. S. Wang, W. Zhang, T. Zhang, S. Mei, Y. Wang, J. Hu, and W. Chen, Accelerating the assembly of defect-free atomic arrays with maximum parallelisms, Phys. Rev. Appl. 19, 054032 (2023).
  56. X. Guo, J. Winklmann, D. Stober, A. Elsharkawy, and M. Schulz, Design of an FPGA-based neutral atom rearrangement accelerator for quantum computing, in 2025 Design, Automation & Test in Europe Conference (IEEE, New York, 2025), pp. 1–6.
  57. J. Tu and S. Subhankar, Fast real-time arbitrary waveform generation using graphic processing units, IEEE Trans. Signal Process. 73, 2368 (2025).
  58. A. H. Dadpour, T. Khayrullin, F. Afiouni, R. E. Sabeh, A. E. Mouawad, I. E. Hajj, and A. Cooper, Low-latency control system for feedback experiments with optical-tweezer arrays, Phys. Rev. Appl. 24, 024062 (2025).
  59. A. Korpel, Acousto-optics—a review of fundamentals, Proc. IEEE 69, 48 (1981).
  60. S. Antonov and V. Kotelnikov, A review of physical principles and applications of acousto-optic deflectors on the basis paratellurite, Phys. Astron. Int. J 3, 235 (2019).
  61. M. Endres, H. Bernien, A. Keesling, H. Levine, E. R. Anschuetz, A. Krajenbrink, C. Senko, V. Vuletic, M. Greiner, and M. D. Lukin, Atom-by-atom assembly of defect-free one-dimensional cold atom arrays, Science 354, 1024 (2016).
  62. N. B. Carvalho and W. Jang, in Digital Front-End in Wireless Communications and Broadcasting: Circuits and Signal Processing, edited by F.-L. Luo (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2011), pp. 309–330.
  63. P. Guillaume, J. Schoukens, R. Pintelon, and I. Kollar, Crest-factor minimization using nonlinear Chebyshev approximation methods, IEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas. 40, 982 (1991).
  64. E. Van der Ouderaa, J. Schoukens, and J. Renneboog, Peak factor minimization using a time-frequency domain swapping algorithm, IEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas. 37, 145 (1988).
  65. A. Van Den Bos, A new method for synthesis of low-peak-factor signals, IEEE Trans. Acoust. Speech Signal Process. 35, 120 (1987).
  66. H. Kitayoshi, S. Sumiea, K. Siirakawa, and S. Takeshita, in Digest of Papers-International Test Conference (IEEE, New York, 1985), pp. 825–834.
  67. D. Newman, An L1 extremal problem for polynomials, Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 16, 1287 (1965).
  68. M. Schroeder, Synthesis of low-peak-factor signals and binary sequences with low autocorrelation (Corresp.), IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory 16, 85 (1970).
  69. S. Narahashi and T. Nojima, New phasing scheme of N-multiple carriers for reducing peak-to-average power ratio, Electron. Lett. 30, 1382 (1994).
  70. Y. Shibasaki, K. Asami, R. Aoki, A. Hatta, A. Kuwana, and H. Kobayashi, in 2020 IEEE 29th Asian Test Symposium (ATS) (IEEE, New York, 2020), pp. 1–6.
  71. T. Preuschoff, M. Schlosser, and G. Birkl, Digital laser frequency and intensity stabilization based on the STEMlab platform (originally Red Pitaya), Rev. Sci. Instrum. 91, 083001 (2020).
  72. A. Cooper, J. P. Covey, I. S. Madjarov, S. G. Porsev, M. S. Safronova, and M. Endres, Alkaline-earth atoms in optical tweezers, Phys. Rev. X 8, 041055 (2018).
  73. E. Biglieri, S. Barberis, and M. Catena, Analysis and compensation of nonlinearities in digital transmission systems, IEEE J. Sel. Areas Commun. 6, 42 (1988).
  74. D. R. Morgan, Z. Ma, J. Kim, M. G. Zierdt, and J. Pastalan, A generalized memory polynomial model for digital predistortion of rf power amplifiers, IEEE Trans. Signal Process. 54, 3852 (2006).
  75. R. Lin, H.-S. Zhong, Y. Li, Z.-R. Zhao, L.-T. Zheng, T.-R. Hu, H.-M. Wu, Z. Wu, W.-J. Ma, Y. Gao, Y.-K. Zhu, Z.-F. Su, W.-L. Ouyang, Y.-C. Zhang, J. Rui, M.-C. Chen, C.-Y. Lu, and J.-W. Pan, AI-enabled parallel assembly of thousands of defect-free neutral atom arrays, Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 060602 (2025).
  76. F. Afiouni, R. El Sabeh, N. Nishimura, I. El Hajj, A. E. Mouawad, and A. Cooper, Efficient algorithms to solve atom reconfiguration problems. III. The bird and batching algorithms and other parallel implementations on GPUs, Phys. Rev. A 112, 023109 (2025).
  77. K. Singh, S. Anand, A. Pocklington, J. T. Kemp, and H. Bernien, Dual-element, two-dimensional atom array with continuous-mode operation, Phys. Rev. X 12, 011040 (2022).
  78. X. Yan, C. He, K. Wen, Z. Ren, P. T. F. Wong, E. Hajiyev, and G.-B. Jo, Multi-reservoir enhanced loading of tweezer atom arrays, Phys. Rev. Res. 7, 013031 (2025).
  79. D. B. Tan, D. Bluvstein, M. D. Lukin, and J. Cong, Compiling quantum circuits for dynamically field-programmable neutral atoms array processors, Quantum 8, 1281 (2024).
  80. G. Pichard, D. Lim, E. Bloch, J. Vaneecloo, L. Bourachot, G.-J. Both, G. Mériaux, S. Dutartre, R. Hostein, J. Paris, B. Ximenez, A. Signoles, A. Browaeys, T. Lahaye, and D. Dreon, Rearrangement of individual atoms in a 2000-site optical-tweezer array at cryogenic temperatures, Phys. Rev. Appl. 22, 024073 (2024).

Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. Applied 24, 064046– Published 17 December, 2025
  • Received 21 April 2025
  • Revised 22 August 2025
  • Accepted 10 November 2025
Crossmark - Check for updates button
Creative Commons Logo

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation