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arXiv:1307.7194

Probing surface electric field noise with a single ion

Nikos Daniilidis, S. Gerber, G. Bolloten, Michael T. Ramm, Anthony Ransford, Erick Ulin-Avila, Ishan Talukdar, Hartmut Häffner

Published Jul 26, 2013• 1 citation
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We report room-temperature electric field noise measurements combined with in-situ surface characterization and cleaning of a microfabricated ion trap. We used a single-ion electric field noise sensor in combination with surface cleaning and analysis tools, to investigate the relationship between electric field noise from metal surfaces in vacuum and the composition of the surface. These experiments were performed in a novel setup that integrates ion trapping capabilities with surface analysis tools. We find that surface cleaning of an aluminum-copper surface significantly reduces the level of electric field noise, but the surface does not need to be atomically clean to show noise levels comparable to those of the best cryogenic traps. The post-cleaning noise levels are low enough to allow fault-tolerant trapped-ion quantum information processing on a microfabricated surface trap.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.1307.7194

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We report room-temperature electric field noise measurements combined with in-situ surface characterization and cleaning of a microfabricated ion trap. We used a single-ion electric field noise sensor in combination with surface cleaning and analysis tools, to investigate the relationship between electric field noise from metal surfaces in vacuum and the composition of the surface. These experiments were performed in a novel setup that integrates ion trapping capabilities with surface analysis tools. We find that surface cleaning of an aluminum-copper surface significantly reduces the level of electric field noise, but the surface does not need to be atomically clean to show noise levels comparable to those of the best cryogenic traps. The post-cleaning noise levels are low enough to allow fault-tolerant trapped-ion quantum information processing on a microfabricated surface trap.
We use a single-ion electric-field noise sensor in combination with in situ surface treatment and analysis tools, to investigate the relationship between electric-field noise from metal surfaces in vacuum and the composition of the surface. These experiments are performed in a setup that integrates ion trapping capabilities with surface analysis tools. We find that treatment of an aluminum-copper surface with energetic argon ions significantly reduces the level of room-temperature electric-field noise, but the surface does not need to be atomically clean to show noise levels comparable to those of the best cryogenic traps. The noise levels after treatment are low enough to allow fault-tolerant trapped-ion quantum information processing on a microfabricated surface trap at room temperature.
Electric field noise from fluctuating patch potentials is a significant problem for a broad range of precision experiments, including trapped ion quantum computation and single spin detection. Recent results demonstrated strong suppression of this noise by cryogenic cooling, suggesting an underlying thermal process. We present measurements characterizing the temperature and frequency dependence of the noise from 7 to 100 K, using a single Sr+ ion trapped 75 mum above the surface of a gold plated surface electrode ion trap. The noise amplitude is observed to have an approximate 1/f spectrum around 1 MHz, and grows rapidly with temperature as T;{beta} for beta from 2 to 4. The data are consistent with microfabricated cantilever measurements of noncontact friction but do not extrapolate to the dc measurements with neutral atoms or contact potential probes.
All surfaces generate electric-field noise, yet the physical origins of this noise are not well understood. This has been an active area of research in the ion trapping community for the past two decades, as ions are highly sensitive to electric-field fluctuations. With our work, we aim to illuminate the microscopic processes that drive charge dynamics on metal surfaces, so as to enable the engineering of low noise quantum devices. We use single trapped calcium ions as detectors to study the 1/f noise generated by the surfaces of ion traps. We the study this noise by observing how it responds to changes in the properties of the trap surface. The surface properties are altered using treatments including prolonged heating, argon ion milling, and electron bombardment. In situ characterization tools are used to monitor the effects of these treatments. Our measurements are consistent with noise produced by an ensemble of thermally activated fluctuators, so our data is discussed in this context. In this dissertation, we present results from a lengthy series of surface treatment experiments, the majority of which took place on a single aluminum-copper substrate. The results of these experiments indicate that argon ion milling can lower noise both by removing contaminants and by altering the morphology of the trap surface. The effects of morphology are isolated from the effects of contaminant removal via heat treatments, which alter the structure of the surface without changing its chemical composition. Through electron bombardment experiments, we begin an exploration of the relationship between hydrocarbon adsorbate structure and electric-field noise. In addition, we compare the noise characteristics of a set of similarly fabricated traps, and determine that atmosphere exposure has a major impact on noise produced by aluminum-copper films.These experiments establish links between the electric-field noise characteristics and the microscopic properties of a contaminated metal trap surface. The insights we draw in this work can inform the next generation of ion trap engineering, storage, and treatment.
We demonstrate the use of a single trapped ion as a sensor to probe electric-field noise from interchangeable test surfaces. As proof of principle, we measure the magnitude and distance dependence of electric-field noise from two ion-trap-like samples with patterned Au electrodes. This trapped-ion sensor could be combined with other surface characterization tools to help elucidate the mechanisms that give rise to electric-field noise from ion-trap surfaces. Such noise presents a significant hurdle for performing large-scale trapped-ion quantum computations.
Electric-field noise is a major limiting factor in the performance of ion traps and other quantum devices. Despite intensive research over the past decade, the nature and cause of electric field noise near surfaces is not well understood. This dissertation reports the high- temperature dependence of electric-field noise above an Al-Cu surface using a trapped 40Ca+ ion as a probe.We employ a novel setup with a surface ion trap mounted on a heater for studies of the temperature dependence of electric-field noise. To characterize the Al-Cu material, we explore the effects of heat treatment through ex situ annealing followed by inspection in a scanning electron microscope. To calibrate the temperature of the trap, we demonstrate the use of thermal imaging for monitoring the temperature of an ion trap in vacuum.The temperature and frequency dependence of electric-field noise above the surface is measured using the heating rate of a single ion in a surface-electrode Paul trap. We find that the heating rate saturates at temperatures greater than 450 K. We find that the frequency dependence shows a 1/f behavior, and has a lower frequency scaling exponent at high temperatures than at room temperature. We show that these results are a reflection of the surface-related noise by eliminating other possible sources of noise.Building on historical data for resistance fluctuations in thin films, we develop the thermally-activated fluctuator model to describe the results. We find that a broad distribution of fluctuators with energy barriers peaked around 0.5 eV accurately models both the temperature and frequency dependence of the electric-field noise measured. We present the interpretation of this model as a way to infer that the cause of electric-field noise in the trap is likely defect motion in the metal surface, connecting the problems faced in ion trapping to a large body of work in solid state physics.
Motional heating of trapped atomic ions is a major obstacle to their use as quantum bits in a scalable quantum computer. The detailed physical origin of this heating is not well understood, but experimental evidence suggests that it is caused by electric-field noise emanating from the surface of the trap electrodes. In this study, we have investigated the role of adsorbates on the electrodes by identifying contaminant overlayers, implementing an in situ argon-ion-beam cleaning treatment, and measuring ion heating rates before and after treating the trap electrodes' surfaces. We find a 100-fold reduction in heating rate after treatment. The experiments described here are sensitive to low levels of electric-field noise in the MHz frequency range. Therefore, this approach could become a useful tool in surface science that complements established techniques.