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Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE

Integration of fiber-tip cavities in single-ion traps for quantum sensing

Péter Horák, Nina Podoliak, Hiroki Takahashi, Matthias Keller

Published Apr 23, 2017• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We investigate geometries for efficient coupling of single ions to fiber-coupled light fields for applications in quantum sensing, quantum metrology, and quantum information processing. Specifically, we discuss the integration of fiber-tip microcavities into radio-frequency ion traps. The distortions of the trapping fields induced by the presence of the optical fibers are simulated for a range of ion trap geometries and the most promising arrangements are identified. Finally, we investigate the use of fiber-tip microcavities with non-spherical mirrors for enhanced ion-light coupling at the center of the trap by appropriate shaping of the cavity modes.

DOI
10.1117/12.2272487

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We investigate geometries for efficient coupling of single ions to fiber-coupled light fields for applications in quantum sensing, quantum metrology, and quantum information processing. Specifically, we discuss the integration of fiber-tip microcavities into radio-frequency ion traps. The distortions of the trapping fields induced by the presence of the optical fibers are simulated for a range of ion trap geometries and the most promising arrangements are identified. Finally, we investigate the use of fiber-tip microcavities with non-spherical mirrors for enhanced ion-light coupling at the center of the trap by appropriate shaping of the cavity modes.
Scalable quantum information processing requires efficient coupling between stationary qubits (trapped atoms, ions, NV centres, etc.) via “flying” single-photon qubits. Here we investigate the optimisation and integration of fibre-tip microcavities into radiofrequency ion traps to achieve (i) high-fidelity transfer of ion qubits onto single photons, (ii) low-loss coupling of cavity photons into single-mode optical fibre, and (iii) achieving conditions (i) and (ii) without disturbing the ion trap. Our cavities are fabricated by laser micro-machining the ends of optical fibres and subsequent coating with a thin dielectric mirror, giving rise to cavity mirrors with a Gaussian profile. These cavities allow for small mode volume and thus large ion-photon coupling fulfilling requirement (i), while simultaneously providing intrinsic coupling to optical fibres, requirement (ii), as long as mode matching between the cavity mode and the fibre mode can be achieved at the cavity mirror. Using a semi-analytical numerical method, we show that Gaussian-shaped mirrors can in fact be used to enhance ion-photon coupling beyond what is possible with more common spherical cavity mirrors. Ion traps are notoriously sensitive to the presence of dielectric materials such as cavity mirrors near the trap centre, preventing requirement (iii) from being achieved. We performed an extensive numerical study of five different common ion traps to find the optimum configurations for integrating fibre-tip cavities with minimised effects on the trapping potentials. We discuss these results and present simple and effective design rules for realising optimum ion-cavity based quantum networks.
We have realized a compact system to efficiently couple the fluorescent light emitted by a single trapped ion to two opposing optical fibers. The fibers are tightly integrated in the center electrodes of a miniature endcap trap. They capture light from the ion with a numerical aperture of 0.34 each, corresponding to 6% of the solid angle in total. The high collection efficiency and high signal-to-background ratio make the setup an ideal quantum light source. We have observed strong antibunching of the photons emitted from the two fibers. The system has a range of applications from single-ion state detection in quantum information processing to strong coupling cavity-QED with ions.
Integration of fiber optics may play a critical role in the development of quantum information processors based on trapped ions and atoms by enabling scalable collection and delivery of light and coupling trapped ions to optical microcavities. We trap 24Mg+ ions in a surface-electrode Paul trap that includes an integrated optical fiber for detecting 280-nm fluorescence photons. The collection numerical aperture is 0.37, and total collection efficiency is 2.1%. The ion can be positioned between 80 and 100 μm from the tip of the fiber by use of an adjustable rf pseudopotential.
We present a novel ion trap design which facilitates the integration of an optical fiber cavity into the trap structure. The optical fibers are confined inside hollow electrodes in such a way that tight shielding and free movement of the fibers are simultaneously achievable. The latter enables in situ optimization of the overlap between the trapped ions and the cavity field. Through numerical simulations, we systematically analyze the effects of the electrode geometry on the trapping characteristics such as trap depths, secular frequencies and the optical access angle. Additionally, we simulate the effects of the presence of the fibers and confirm the robustness of the trapping potential. Based on these simulations and other technical considerations, we devise a practical trap configuration that isviable to achieve strong coupling of a single ion.
Abstract We present a systematic numerical study of Fabry–Pérot optical cavities with Gaussian-shape mirrors formed between tips of optical fibers. Such cavities can be fabricated by laser machining of fiber tips and are promising systems for achieving strong coupling between atomic particles and an optical field as required for quantum information applications. Using a mode mixing matrix method, we analyze the cavity optical eigenmodes and corresponding losses depending on a range of cavity-shape parameters, such as mirror radius of curvature, indentation depth and cavity length. The Gaussian shape of the mirrors causes mixing of optical modes in the cavity. We investigate the effect of the mode mixing on the coherent atom-cavity coupling as well as the mode matching between the cavity and a single-mode optical fiber. While the mode mixing is associated with increased cavity losses, it can also lead to an enhancement of the local optical field. We demonstrate that around the resonance between the fundamental and 2nd order Laguerre–Gaussian modes of the cavity it is possible to obtain 50% enhancement of the atom-cavity coupling at the cavity center while still maintaining low cavity losses and high cavity-fiber optical coupling.