Demonstration of a Neutral Atom Controlled-NOT Quantum Gate

We present the first demonstration of a CNOT gate between two individually addressed neutral atoms. Our implementation of the CNOT uses Rydberg blockade interactions between neutral atoms held in optical traps separated by >8 mu m. Using two different gate protocols we measure CNOT fidelities of F = 0.73 and 0.72 based on truth table probabilities. The gate was used to generate Bell states with fidelity F = 0.48 +/- 0.06. After correcting for atom loss we obtain an a posteriori entanglement fidelity of F = 0.58.