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arXiv:2103.10425 · Physical Review A

Engineering spin-spin interactions with optical tweezers in trapped ions

Juan Diego Arias Espinoza, M. Mazzanti, Katya Fouka, Rima X. Schüssler, Zhenlin Wu, Philippe Corboz, R. Gerritsma, Arghavan Safavi-Naini

Published Jul 6, 2021• 20 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We propose a method for generating programmable interactions in one- and two-dimensional trapped-ion quantum simulators. Here we consider the use of optical tweezers to engineer the sound-wave spectrum of trapped ion crystals. We show that this approach allows us to tune the interactions and connectivity of the ion qubits beyond the power-law interactions accessible in current setups. We demonstrate the experimental feasibility of our proposal using realistic tweezer settings and experimentally relevant trap parameters to generate the optimal tweezer patterns to create target spin-spin interaction patterns in both one- and two-dimensional crystals. Our approach will advance quantum simulation in trapped-ion platforms as it allows them to realize a broader family of quantum spin Hamiltonians.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.104.013302

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We propose a method for generating programmable interactions in one- and two-dimensional trapped-ion quantum simulators. Here we consider the use of optical tweezers to engineer the sound-wave spectrum of trapped ion crystals. We show that this approach allows us to tune the interactions and connectivity of the ion qubits beyond the power-law interactions accessible in current setups. We demonstrate the experimental feasibility of our proposal using realistic tweezer settings and experimentally relevant trap parameters to generate the optimal tweezer patterns to create target spin-spin interaction patterns in both one- and two-dimensional crystals. Our approach will advance quantum simulation in trapped-ion platforms as it allows them to realize a broader family of quantum spin Hamiltonians.
The ability to program and control interactions provides the key to implementing large-scale quantum simulation and computation in trapped-ion systems. Adding optical tweezers, which can tune the phonon spectrum and thus modify the phonon-mediated spin-spin interaction, was recently proposed as a way of programing quantum simulators for a broader range of spin models [Arias Espinoza et al., Phys. Rev. A 104, 013302 (2021)]. In this work we study the robustness of our findings in the presence of experimental imperfections: micromotion, local stress, and intensity noise. We show that the effects of micromotion can be easily circumvented when designing and optimizing tweezer patterns to generate a target interaction. Furthermore, while local stress, whereby the tweezers apply small forces on individual ions, may appear to enable further tuning of the spin-spin interactions, any additional flexibility is negligible. We conclude that optical tweezers are a useful method for controlling interactions in trapped-ion quantum simulators in the presence of micromotion and imperfections in the tweezer alignment, but require intensity stabilization on the subpercent level.
We propose an experimental architecture where an array of optical tweezers affords site-dependent control over the confining potential of a conventional radio-frequency ion trap. The site-dependent control enables programmable manipulation of phonon modes of ions, with many potential applications in quantum information processing (QIP) and thermodynamics. We describe protocols for programming the array of optical tweezers to attain a set of target phonon modes with high accuracy. We propose applications of such controls in simulating quantum thermodynamics of a particle of programmable effective mass via Jarzynski's equality and improving the efficiency of sympathetic cooling and quantum logic gates in a multispecies ion system of disparate masses. We discuss the required optical parameters in a realistic ion trap system and potential adverse effects of optical tweezers in QIP. Our scheme extends the utility of trapped ions as a platform for quantum computation and simulation.
A collection of trapped atomic ions represents one of the most attractive platforms for the quantum simulation of interacting spin networks and quantum magnetism. Spin-dependent optical dipole forces applied to an ion crystal create long-range effective spin–spin interactions and allow the simulation of spin Hamiltonians that possess nontrivial phases and dynamics. Here we show how the appropriate design of laser fields can provide for arbitrary multidimensional spin–spin interaction graphs even for the case of a linear spatial array of ions. This scheme uses currently available trap technology and is scalable to levels where the classical methods of simulation are intractable.
We propose a two-qubit phase gate based on trapped ions that uses fast electric field pulses and spin-dependent local traps generated by optical tweezers. The phases are engineered by spin-dependent coherent evolution, interspersed with momentum kicks. We derive a set of commensurability conditions and expressions for the spin-dependent accumulated phase that, when satisfied, realize the target two-qubit phase gate within tens of microseconds. We study the scalability of our proposal in larger-ion crystals and demonstrate the existence of solutions with up to four ions. Gates in larger crystals should also be possible but will require more commensurability conditions to be fulfilled.
Trapped atomic ion qubits or effective spins are a powerful quantum platform for quantum computation and simulation, featuring densely connected and efficiently programmable interactions between the spins. While native interactions between trapped ion spins are typically pairwise, many quantum algorithms and quantum spin models naturally feature couplings between triplets, quartets or higher orders of spins. Here we formulate and analyze a mechanism that extends the standard Mølmer-Sørensen pairwise entangling gate and generates a controllable and programmable coupling between NNN spins of trapped ions. We show that spin-dependent optical forces applied at twice the motional frequency generate a coordinate-transformation of the collective ion motion in phase-space, rendering displacement forces that are nonlinear in the spin operators. We formulate a simple framework that enables a systematic and faithful construction of high-order spin Hamiltonians and gates, including the effect of multiple modes of motion, and characterize the performance of such operations under realistic conditions.