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arXiv:2510.01557 · Applied Physics Letters

Design and characterization of a cryogenic vacuum chamber for ion trapping experiments

Darian M. Hartsell, J. M. Gray, Chris Shappert, N. L. Gostin, R. A. McGill, Holly N. Tinkey, C. R. Clark, Kenton R. Brown

Published Jan 19, 2026• 1 citation
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Abstract

We present the design and characterization of a cryogenic vacuum chamber incorporating mechanical isolation from vibrations, a high numerical-aperture in-vacuum imaging objective, in-vacuum magnetic shielding, and an antenna for global radio frequency manipulation of trapped ions. The cold shield near 4 K is mechanically referenced to an underlying optical table via thermally insulating supports and exhibits root mean square vibrations less than 7.61(4) nm. Using the in-vacuum objective, we can detect 397 nm photons from a trapped 40Ca+ ion with 1.77% efficiency and achieve 99.9963(4)% single-shot state-detection fidelity in 50 μs. To characterize the efficacy of the magnetic shields, we perform Ramsey experiments on the ground-state qubit and obtain a coherence time of 24(2) ms, which extends to 0.25(1) s with a single spin-echo pulse. XY4 and XY32 dynamical decoupling sequences driven via the radio frequency antenna extend the coherence to 0.72(2) and 0.81(3) s, respectively.

DOI
10.1063/5.0304948

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We present the design and characterization of a cryogenic vacuum chamber incorporating mechanical isolation from vibrations, a high numerical-aperture in-vacuum imaging objective, in-vacuum magnetic shielding, and an antenna for global radio frequency manipulation of trapped ions. The cold shield near 4 K is mechanically referenced to an underlying optical table via thermally insulating supports and exhibits root mean square vibrations less than 7.61(4) nm. Using the in-vacuum objective, we can detect 397 nm photons from a trapped 40Ca+ ion with 1.77% efficiency and achieve 99.9963(4)% single-shot state-detection fidelity in 50 μs. To characterize the efficacy of the magnetic shields, we perform Ramsey experiments on the ground-state qubit and obtain a coherence time of 24(2) ms, which extends to 0.25(1) s with a single spin-echo pulse. XY4 and XY32 dynamical decoupling sequences driven via the radio frequency antenna extend the coherence to 0.72(2) and 0.81(3) s, respectively.
We report on the design of a cryogenic setup for trapped ion quantum computing containing a segmented surface electrode trap. The heat shield of our cryostat is designed to attenuate alternating magnetic field noise, resulting in 120 dB reduction of 50 Hz noise along the magnetic field axis. We combine this efficient magnetic shielding with high optical access required for single ion addressing as well as for efficient state detection by placing two lenses each with numerical aperture 0.23 inside the inner heat shield. The cryostat design incorporates vibration isolation to avoid decoherence of optical qubits due to the motion of the cryostat. We measure vibrations of the cryostat of less than ±20 nm over 2 s. In addition to the cryogenic apparatus, we describe the setup required for an operation with 40Ca+ and 88Sr+ ions. The instability of the laser manipulating the optical qubits in 40Ca+ is characterized by yielding a minimum of its Allan deviation of 2.4 ⋅ 10−15 at 0.33 s. To evaluate the performance of the apparatus, we trapped 40Ca+ ions, obtaining a heating rate of 2.14(16) phonons/s and a Gaussian decay of the Ramsey contrast with a 1/e-time of 18.2(8) ms.
We report on the design of a cryogenic setup for trapped ion quantum computing containing a segmented surface electrode trap. The heat shield of our cryostat is designed to attenuate alternating magnetic field noise, resulting in 120 dB reduction of 50 Hz noise along the magnetic field axis. We combine this efficient magnetic shielding with high optical access required for single ion addressing as well as for efficient state detection by placing two lenses each with numerical aperture 0.23 inside the inner heat shield. The cryostat design incorporates vibration isolation to avoid decoherence of optical qubits due to the motion of the cryostat. We measure vibrations of the cryostat of less than ±20 nm over 2 s. In addition to the cryogenic apparatus, we describe the setup required for an operation with 40Ca+ and 88Sr+ ions. The instability of the laser manipulating the optical qubits in 40Ca+ is characterized by yielding a minimum of its Allan deviation of 2.4 ⋅ 10-15 at 0.33 s. To evaluate the performance of the apparatus, we trapped 40Ca+ ions, obtaining a heating rate of 2.14(16) phonons/s and a Gaussian decay of the Ramsey contrast with a 1/e-time of 18.2(8) ms.
Trapping ions in Paul traps require high radio frequency voltages, which are generated using resonators. When operating traps in a cryogenic environment, an in-vacuum resonator showing low loss is crucial to limit the thermal load to the cryostat. In this study, we present a guide for the design and production of compact, shielded cryogenic resonators. We produced and characterized three different types of resonators and furthermore demonstrate efficient impedance matching of these resonators at cryogenic temperatures.
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A cryogenic radio-frequency ion trap system designed for quantum logic spectroscopy of highly charged ions (HCI) is presented. It includes a segmented linear Paul trap, an in-vacuum imaging lens, and a helical resonator. We demonstrate ground state cooling of all three modes of motion of a single 9Be+ ion and determine their heating rates as well as excess axial micromotion. The trap shows one of the lowest levels of electric field noise published to date. We investigate the magnetic-field noise suppression in cryogenic shields made from segmented copper, the resulting magnetic field stability at the ion position and the resulting coherence time. Using this trap in conjunction with an electron beam ion trap and a deceleration beamline, we have been able to trap single highly charged Ar13+ (Ar XIV) ions concurrently with single Be+ ions, a key prerequisite for the first quantum logic spectroscopy of a HCI. This major stepping stone allows us to push highly-charged-ion spectroscopic precision from the gigahertz to the hertz level and below.
statistics. We present progress towards the construction of a cryogenic ion trap apparatus, designed to cryopump background gas within the 4K chamber. The resulting reduction in pressure will allow robust trapping of up to 100 ions in a single chain. Cooling is provided by a closed cycle cryostat with a gas mediated thermal linkage which mechanically decouples the ion trap from the vibrating cold head. A spherical octagon surrounding the ion trap allows optical access for global and individual addressing beams and high numerical aperture uorescence collection.