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arXiv:2206.11888 · Physical Review Letters

Transport of Multispecies Ion Crystals through a Junction in a Radio-Frequency Paul Trap

William Cody Burton, Brian Estey, Ian M. Hoffman, Abigail R. Perry, Curtis Volin, Gabriel Price

Published Apr 28, 2023• 29 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We report on the first demonstration of transport of a multispecies ion crystal through a junction in a rf Paul trap. The trap is a two-dimensional surface-electrode trap with an $\mathsf{X}$ junction and segmented control electrodes to which time-varying voltages are applied to control the shape and position of potential wells above the trap surface. We transport either a single ${^{171}\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}$ ion or a crystal composed of a ${^{138}\mathrm{Ba}}^{+}$ ion cotrapped with the ${^{171}\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}$ ion to any port of the junction. We characterize the motional excitation by performing multiple round-trips through the junction and back to the initial well position without cooling. The final excitation is then measured using sideband asymmetry. For a single ${^{171}\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}$ ion, transport with a $4\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{m}/\mathrm{s}$ average speed induces between $0.013\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.001$ and $0.014\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.001$ quanta of excitation per round-trip, depending on the exit port. For a Ba-Yb crystal, transport at the same speed induces between $0.013\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.001$ and $0.030\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.002$ quanta per round-trip of excitation to the in-phase axial mode. Excitation in the out-of-phase axial mode ranges from $0.005\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.001$ to $0.021\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.001$ quanta per round-trip.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.130.173202

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We report on the first demonstration of transport of a multispecies ion crystal through a junction in a rf Paul trap. The trap is a two-dimensional surface-electrode trap with an X\mathsf{X}X junction and segmented control electrodes to which time-varying voltages are applied to control the shape and position of potential wells above the trap surface. We transport either a single 171Yb+{^{171}\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}171Yb+ ion or a crystal composed of a 138Ba+{^{138}\mathrm{Ba}}^{+}138Ba+ ion cotrapped with the 171Yb+{^{171}\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}171Yb+ ion to any port of the junction. We characterize the motional excitation by performing multiple round-trips through the junction and back to the initial well position without cooling. The final excitation is then measured using sideband asymmetry. For a single 171Yb+{^{171}\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}171Yb+ ion, transport with a 4  m/s4\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{m}/\mathrm{s}4  m/s average speed induces between 0.013\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi0.0010.013\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.0010.013\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi0.001 and 0.014\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi0.0010.014\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.0010.014\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi0.001 quanta of excitation per round-trip, depending on the exit port. For a Ba-Yb crystal, transport at the same speed induces between 0.013\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi0.0010.013\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.0010.013\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi0.001 and 0.030\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi0.0020.030\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.0020.030\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi0.002 quanta per round-trip of excitation to the in-phase axial mode. Excitation in the out-of-phase axial mode ranges from 0.005\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi0.0010.005\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.0010.005\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi0.001 to 0.021\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi0.0010.021\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.0010.021\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi0.001 quanta per round-trip.
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We describe the construction and operation of a segmented linear Paul trap, fabricated in printed-circuit-board technology with an electrode segment width of 500 μm. We prove the applicability of this technology to reliable ion trapping and report the observation of Doppler-cooled ion crystals of 40 Ca + with this kind of trap. Measured trap frequencies agree with numerical simulations at the level of a few percent from which we infer a high fabrication accuracy of the segmented trap. To demonstrate its usefulness and versatility for trapped ion experiments we study the fast transport of a single ion. Our experimental results show a success rate of 99.0(1)% for a transport distance of 2 × 2 mm in a round-trip time of T = 20 μs, which corresponds to 4 axial oscillations only. We theoretically and experimentally investigate the excitation of oscillations caused by fast ion transports with error-function voltage ramps: for a slightly slower transport (a round-trip shuttle within T = 30 μs) we observe non-adiabatic motional excitation of 0.89(15) meV.
We describe the construction and operation of a segmented linear Paul trap, fabricated in printed-circuit-board technology with an electrode segment width of 500 microns. We prove the applicability of this technology to reliable ion trapping and report the observation of Doppler cooled ion crystals of Ca-40 with this kind of traps. Measured trap frequencies agree with numerical simulations at the level of a few percent from which we infer a high fabrication accuracy of the segmented trap. To demonstrate its usefulness and versatility for trapped ion experiments we study the fast transport of a single ion. Our experimental results show a success rate of 99.0(1)% for a transport distance of 2x2mm in a round-trip time of T=20us, which corresponds to 4 axial oscillations only. We theoretically and experimentally investigate the excitation of oscillations caused by fast ion transports with error-function voltage ramps: For a slightly slower transport (a round-trip shuttle within T=30us) we observe non-adiabatic motional excitation of 0.89(15)meV.
Monolithic three-dimensional (3D) Paul traps combine the high-precision microfabrication of two-dimensional (2D) chip traps with the deep trapping potentials and low heating rates characteristic of macroscopic 3D Paul traps, which are typically machined by traditional means and mechanically assembled. However, achieving low motional heating rates and optical access with a high numerical aperture (NA) while maintaining the high radio-frequency (rf) voltages required for trapping heavy ionic species, such as Yb + and Ba + , remains a significant technical challenge. In this work, we present a fused silica, monolithic segmented 3D Paul trap with an ion-electrode distance of 250 μ m , and stable operation at high rf voltages. We benchmark the trap’s performance using Yb + ions, demonstrating axially homogeneous trapping potentials spanning over 200 μ m about the trap’s axial center, high multidirectional optical access (up to 0.7 NA), and radial motional heating as low as n ¯ ˙ = 1.1 ± 0.1 quanta / s at radial trap frequencies about 3 MHz near room temperature. Furthermore, we observe a motional Ramsey coherence time, T 2 , of about 96 ms for the radial center-of-mass mode. We demonstrate the generation of a two-qubit Bell state with a parity contrast of 99.3 − 1.5 + 0.7 % with state preparation and measurement correction. These results establish fused-silica monolithic 3D Paul traps as a scalable, modular platform for quantum simulation, computation, metrology, and networking with heavy ionic species.
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Monolithic three-dimensional (3D) Paul traps combine the high-precision microfabrication of two-dimensional (2D) chip traps with the deep trapping potentials and low heating rates characteristic of macroscopic 3D Paul traps, which are typically machined by traditional means and mechanically assembled. However, achieving low motional heating rates and optical access with a high numerical aperture (NA) while maintaining the high radio-frequency (RF) voltages required for trapping heavy ionic species, such as Yb+^{+}+ and Ba+^{+}+, remains a significant technical challenge. In this work, we present a fused-silica, monolithic segmented 3D Paul trap with an ion-electrode distance of 250 μμμm, and stable operation at high RF voltages. We benchmark the performance of the trap using Yb+^{+}+ ions, demonstrating axially homogeneous trapping potentials spanning over 200 μμμm about the axial center of the trap, high multi-directional optical access (up to 0.7 NA), and radial motional heating as low as $\dot{\bar n}=1.1 \pm 0.1 $ quanta/s at radial trap frequencies about 3 MHz near room temperature. Furthermore, we observe a motional Ramsey coherence time, T2{T}_{2}T2​, of about 95 ms for the radial center-of-mass mode. We demonstrate the generation of a two-qubit Bell state with a parity contrast of 99.3−1.5+0.7{99.3}^{+0.7} _{-1.5}99.3−1.5+0.7​% with state preparation and measurement correction. These results establish fused-silica monolithic 3D Paul traps as a scalable, modular platform for quantum simulation, computation, metrology, and networking with heavy ionic species.