  Scaling the size of assembled neutral-atom arrays trapped in optical lattices
or optical tweezers is an enabling step for a number of applications ranging
from quantum simulations to quantum metrology. However, preparation times
increase with system size and constitute a severe bottleneck in the bottom-up
assembly of large ordered arrays from stochastically loaded optical traps.
Here, we demonstrate a novel method to circumvent this bottleneck by recycling
atoms from one experimental run to the next, while continuously reloading and
adding atoms to the array. Using this approach, we achieve densely-packed
arrays with more than 1000 atoms stored in an optical lattice, continuously
refilled with a net 2.5 seconds cycle time and about 130 atoms reloaded during
each cycle. Furthermore, we show that we can continuously maintain such large
arrays by simply reloading atoms that are lost from one cycle to the next. Our
approach paves the way towards quantum science with large ordered atomic arrays
containing thousands of atoms in continuous operation.
