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arXiv:2607.13342

A versatile laser-machined rf trap for arrays of 100+ ions

Frank G. Schroer, Ilyoung Jung, Thomas W. Burkle, Jack B. Lyons, Joseph W. Van Vlack, Joseph Ezuma, Philip Richerme

quant-phSubmitted Jul 15, 2026• Announced Jul 16, 2026• 0 citations
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Abstract

Large ion crystals in diverse geometries are a key resource for quantum simulation experiments. In this work, we introduce a macroscopic rf trap that supports a wide variety of one-dimensional ion configurations as well as lateral two-dimensional crystals with more than 100 ions. Our design is based on precision-machined fused silica wafers that are stacked to form the trap structure. Ten independently biased electrodes provide flexible control over the axial potential, enabling long one-dimensional crystals, isospaced ion strings, split-well chains, and two-dimensional arrays with tunable aspect ratios. We present the design and fabrication process for this trap and demonstrate the ability to tune the radial secular frequencies, detect and compensate micromotion, rotate the principal axes, and characterize trapped ion heating rates. All trap design and documentation files are freely available alongside this work, to facilitate adoption and further development within the ion trap community.

Comments
12 pages, 7 figures

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Large ion crystals in diverse geometries are a key resource for quantum simulation experiments. In this work, we introduce a macroscopic rf trap that supports a wide variety of one-dimensional ion configurations as well as lateral two-dimensional crystals with more than 100 ions. Our design is based on precision-machined fused silica wafers that are stacked to form the trap structure. Ten independently biased electrodes provide flexible control over the axial potential, enabling long one-dimensional crystals, isospaced ion strings, split-well chains, and two-dimensional arrays with tunable aspect ratios. We present the design and fabrication process for this trap and demonstrate the ability to tune the radial secular frequencies, detect and compensate micromotion, rotate the principal axes, and characterize trapped ion heating rates. All trap design and documentation files are freely available alongside this work, to facilitate adoption and further development within the ion trap community.
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We present a three-dimensional scalable linear ion trap scheme for ion trapping and discuss its applications for the optical frequency standard and scalable quantum information processing with its parallel strings of trapped Ca-40(+) ions. The geometry here contains nine equal-distance parallel rods driven by rf, which form trapping potentials for radial confinement and two end ring electrodes biased at a few volts for axial confinement. Its feasibility is calculated by using the finite element analysis method.
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Recent advances in quantum information processing with trapped ions have demonstrated the need for new ion trap architectures capable of holding and manipulating chains of many (>10) ions. Here we present the design and detailed characterization of a new linear trap, microfabricated with scalable complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) techniques, that is well-suited to this challenge. Forty-four individually controlled dc electrodes provide the many degrees of freedom required to construct anharmonic potential wells, shuttle ions, merge and split ion chains, precisely tune secular mode frequencies, and adjust the orientation of trap axes. Microfabricated capacitors on dc electrodes suppress radio-frequency pickup and excess micromotion, while a top-level ground layer simplifies modeling of electric fields and protects trap structures underneath. A localized aperture in the substrate provides access to the trapping region from an oven below, permitting deterministic loading of particular isotopic/elemental sequences via species-selective photoionization. The shapes of the aperture and radio-frequency electrodes are optimized to minimize perturbation of the trapping pseudopotential. Laboratory experiments verify simulated potentials and characterize trapping lifetimes, stray electric fields, and ion heating rates, while measurement and cancellation of spatially-varying stray electric fields permits the formation of nearly-equally spaced ion chains.