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Ultrafast π-pulses for strong coherent excitation of a 171Yb+ ion

Kenji Shimizu, Jordan Scarabel, Steven Connell, Erik W. Streed, Mirko Lobino

Published Dec 30, 2019• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Coherent excitation and stimulated emission from optical transitions has been proposed as a mechanism to generate strong coherent forces in atomic systems and as the basis for fast quantum gates in trapped ions. We have demonstrated driving coherent oscillations between the 2S1/2 and 2P1/2 states in trapped 171Yb+ with 2.5 ps pulses straddling the resonance at 369.5nm. At higher powers nearly full extinction was observed, demonstrating coherence, however residual detuning issues have precluded full coherent population transfer.

DOI
10.1117/12.2539937

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Coherent excitation and stimulated emission from optical transitions has been proposed as a mechanism to generate strong coherent forces in atomic systems and as the basis for fast quantum gates in trapped ions. We have demonstrated driving coherent oscillations between the 2S1/2 and 2P1/2 states in trapped 171Yb+ with 2.5 ps pulses straddling the resonance at 369.5nm. At higher powers nearly full extinction was observed, demonstrating coherence, however residual detuning issues have precluded full coherent population transfer.
Experimental realizations of two qubit entangling gates with trapped ions typically rely on addressing spectroscopically resolved motional sidebands, limiting gate speed to the secular frequency. Fast entangling gates using ultrafast pulsed lasers overcome this speed limit. This approach is based on state-dependent photon recoil kicks from a sequence of counter-propagating, resonant, ultrafast pulse pairs, which can allow sub-microsecond gate speeds. Here, we demonstrate a key component of the ultrafast gate protocol, the coherent excitation of a 171Yb+ ion across the 2S1∕2-2P1∕2 transition with a single near-resonant short optical pulse at 369.53 nm. We achieve a maximum population transfer of 94(1)% using a picosecond pulsed laser that can be tuned across the 2S1∕2-2P1∕2 transition and 42.5(9)% with 190(7) GHz detuning.
We demonstrate single-qubit operations on a trapped atom hyperfine qubit using a single ultrafast pulse from a mode-locked laser. We shape the pulse from the laser and perform a π rotation of the qubit in less than 50 ps with a population transfer exceeding 99% and negligible effects from spontaneous emission or ac Stark shifts. The gate time is significantly shorter than the period of atomic motion in the trap (Ω(Rabi)/ν(trap)>10(4)), demonstrating that this interaction takes place deep within the strong excitation regime.
Trapped ions are currently one of the most promising architectures for realising the quantum information processor. The long lived internal states are ideal for representing qubit states and, through controlled interactions with electromagnetic radiation, ions can be manipulated to execute coherent logic operations. In this thesis an experiment capable of trapping Yb+ ions, including 171Yb+, is presented. Since ion energy can limit the coherence of qubit manipulations, characterisation of an ion trap heating rate is vital. Using a trapped 174Yb+ ion a heating rate consistent with previous measurements of other ion species in similar ion traps is obtained. This result shows abnormal heating of Yb+ does not occur, further solidifying the suitability of this species for quantum information processing. Efficient creation, and cooling of trapped ions requires exact wavelengths for the ionising, cooling and repump transitions. A simple technique to measure the 1S0 ? 1P1 transition wavelengths, required for isotope selective photoionisation of neutral Yb, is developed. Using the technique new wavelengths, accurate to 60 MHz, are obtained and differ from previously published results by 660 MHz. Through a simple modification the technique can also predict Doppler shifted transition frequencies, which may be required in non-perpendicular atom-laser interactions. Using trapped ions, the 2S1=2 ? 2P1/2 Doppler cooling and 2D3/2 ? 2D[3/2]1/2 repump transitions are also measured to a greater accuracy than previously reported. Many experiments require wavelengths which can only be obtained using complex expensive laser systems. To remedy this a simple cost effective laser is developed to enable laser diodes to be operated at sub zero temperatures, extending the range of obtainable wavelengths. Additional diode modulation capabilities allow for the manipulation of atoms and ions with hyperfine structures. The laser is shown to be suitable for manipulating Yb+ ions by cooling a diode from 372 nm to 369 nm and simultaneously generating 2.1 GHz frequency sidebands. Coherent manipulation such as arbitrary qubit rotations, motional coupling and ground state cooling, are required for trapped ion quantum computing. Two photon stimulated Raman transitions are identified as a suitable technique to implement all of these requirements and an investigation into implementing this technique with 171Yb+ is conducted. The possibility of exciting a Raman transition via either a dipole or quadrupole transitions in 171Yb+ is analysed, with dipole transitions preferred because quadrupole transitions are found to be too demanding experimentally. An inexpensive setup, utilising a dipole transition, is designed and tested. Although currently limited the setup shows potential to be an inexpensive, high fidelity method of exciting a Raman transition.
Fast entangling quantum gates can significantly enhance the performance of a trapped-ion quantum computer. In pursuit of implementing a fast two-qubit gate, we investigate the coherent excitation of a 40 Ca + ion with a train of picosecond pulses resonant to the 4S 1/2 4P 3/2 transition. The optical pulse train is derived from a mode-locked, stabilized optical frequency comb. We implement two techniques to characterize the pulse-ion interaction and show how all requirements can be met for an implementation of a fast phase gate operation.
Trapped ions offer a controlled and versatile platform for the simulation of spin and spin-boson quantum systems. The Coulomb interaction between ions trapped in a harmonic potential can be used to mediate interactions between effective spins in the ion chain. Generally, coherent operations on ions are performed on ground-state qubits encoded in magnetically insensitive hyperfine sublevels. In this thesis, we extend this toolbox with the aim of simultaneously manipulating both ground-state and optical qubits, with the latter encoded in metastable optically excited states. The optical qubit provides another set of coherent and dissipative operations that can be performed on the ions, opening new avenues for quantum computing and simulation. In our experiment, we use 171Yb+ and 172Yb+ ions to encode ground-state and optical qubits. We discuss the laser setup needed to address the narrow quadrupole transition from 2S1/2 →2 D3/2 of 3.02 Hz linewidth, and we describe spectroscopy techniques to study this transition in both the isotopes. We describe how the low linewidth allows resolved sideband cooling on the shared motional modes in an ion chain, enabling sympathetic cooling with one ion, 172Yb+ , while simultaneously performing coherent operations on the 171Yb+ ion. Finally, we discuss the prospects of using this tool for light-shift entangling gates, showing the flexibility of this trapped-ion system for simulating coherent as well as dissipative quantum systems.