French company Pasqal has successfully demonstrated the manipulation of neutral atoms using laser light generated and routed directly on a photonic integrated circuit.
This marks a significant milestone as it is reportedly the first instance of such control in neutral-atom quantum computers. In the experiment, a single photonic chip created four independently controlled optical traps, successfully holding four rubidium atoms.
Why Move Optics onto a Chip
Neutral-atom computers utilize focused laser beams, known as optical tweezers, to capture and maneuver individual atoms, which serve as qubits. Currently, a substantial portion of this optical system relies on external components and requires considerable space. As the number of atoms increases, this architecture becomes increasingly difficult to scale.
Pasqal is working to transfer part of this infrastructure onto photonic integrated circuits. In the recent experiment, the performance of the chip system was found to be comparable to the traditional optics previously used by the company, with the captured atoms remaining stable for about 27.5 seconds.
From Four Atoms to Thousands
While this is merely a demonstration of principle — four atoms are hardly comparable to a fully functional quantum processor — the optical infrastructure is becoming a potential bottleneck in scaling neutral-atom technology.
Pasqal aims to leverage integrated photonics as a key component in future systems that could exceed 10,000 atoms and 100 logical qubits. The company believes this approach will significantly reduce the complexity of the optical portion of the processor and move quantum system production closer to a more scalable architecture.
To develop the photonic chip, Pasqal utilized technologies from its subsidiary Aeponyx, which it acquired in 2025. This acquisition was specifically aimed at integrating photonic circuits into Pasqal’s hardware platform and expediting the transition to fault-tolerant quantum computing.
It's noteworthy that Pasqal, in partnership with Saudi Aramco, has launched the first quantum computer in Saudi Arabia.