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A microwave dressed Rydberg ion

Fabian Pokorny

Published Jan 1, 2020• 1 citation
OpenAlex

Abstract

Trapped Rydberg ions are a promising new platform for quantum computation and simulation. They combine the exquisite control of trapped ion systems with the strong dipole-dipole interactions available in Rydberg atom systems. In order to realize strong interactions between Rydberg ions, microwave dressing is required to induce strong oscillating dipoles. Additionally, microwave dressing of Rydberg states with polarizabilities of opposite sign allows for the realization of Rydberg states with vanishing polarizability. Such states are insensitive to external electric fields and can be trapped independently of their state. Vanishing-polarizability Rydberg states allow for implementing Rydberg entangling gates in large ion crystals.

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Trapped Rydberg ions are a promising new platform for quantum computation and simulation. They combine the exquisite control of trapped ion systems with the strong dipole-dipole interactions available in Rydberg atom systems. In order to realize strong interactions between Rydberg ions, microwave dressing is required to induce strong oscillating dipoles. Additionally, microwave dressing of Rydberg states with polarizabilities of opposite sign allows for the realization of Rydberg states with vanishing polarizability. Such states are insensitive to external electric fields and can be trapped independently of their state. Vanishing-polarizability Rydberg states allow for implementing Rydberg entangling gates in large ion crystals.
Trapped Rydberg ions are a novel platform for quantum information processing. This approach combines the advanced quantum control of trapped ions and the strong dipolar interaction of Rydberg atoms. In this thesis, a strong dipole-dipole interaction has been demonstrated and a sub-microsecond entangling gate has been implemented in a cold two-ion crystal. After minimizing the polarizability of the Rydberg state by microwave dressing and understanding the effect of the quadrupole radio-frequency trap,the entangling gate has been applied in a warm 12-ion crystal.
Microwave dressing of Rydberg ions creates tunable eigenstates with controllable polarizability and interaction strength, but coherent navigation between these states has remained elusive. Here, we report on the first demonstration of coherent population transfer between different Rydberg states of a trapped ion. We investigate both microwave-mediated Rabi oscillations between Rydberg S and P states and adiabatic transfer between microwave-dressed Rydberg states. Between Rydberg S and P states we achieve a population transfer efficiency of 91.5(5)% in a single microwave πππ-pulse. Microwave dressing hybridizes the S and P Rydberg states into new eigenstates with tunable polarizability, enabling both noise-resilient zero-polarizability states and maximally interacting states. We demonstrate adiabatic transfer between these zero-polarizability and maximally dressed states, enabling experiments that combine noise-resilient excitation with strong dipole-dipole interactions and Förster resonance control within a single measurement sequence.
Combining the strong, long-range interactions of cold Rydberg atoms with the controllability of trapped ions, trapped Rydberg ions provide a promising platform for scalable quantum information processing. As demonstrated in a breakthrough experiment [1], microwave dressing of Rydberg states induces permanent rotating dipole moments leading to strong interactions between highly excited ions. Due to the separation of timescales, the fast electronic dynamics of Rydberg ions decouple from the slower motional modes of the linear Coulomb crystal, which typically mediate entangling gates in ground-state ion systems. Therefore, Rydberg ions enable significantly faster gate operations. We demonstrate how the unique properties of trapped Rydberg ions can be exploited to realize fast and high-fidelity entangling gates, along with the associated challenges and strategies to overcome them. Different types of gate protocols for two- and three-qubit entangling gates with trapped Rydberg ions are presented and sources of infidelity are analyzed.
Combining the strong and long-range interaction of cold Rydberg atoms with the controllability of trapped ions, ultracold trapped Rydberg ions provide a promising platform for scalable quantum computing. We demonstrate how microwave-dressed Rydberg states result in rotating permanent dipole moments causing strong dipole-dipole interaction between ions in highly excited Rydberg states. Due to the large difference in time scales, the fast electronic dynamics of the Rydberg ions decouple from the slower oscillator modes in the linear Coulomb crystal. These properties allow us to realize a submicrosecond two-qubit gate between two Rydberg ions confined in a Paul trap reaching fidelities of > 99% under consideration of the finite lifetime of the Rydberg states at room temperature.
We study the dynamics of Rydberg ions trapped in a linear Paul trap, and discuss the properties of ionic Rydberg states in the presence of the static and time-dependent electric fields constituting the trap. The interactions in a system of many ions are investigated and coupled equations of the internal electronic states and the external oscillator modes of a linear ion chain are derived. We show that strong dipole–dipole interactions among the ions can be achieved by microwave dressing fields. Using low-angular momentum states with large quantum defect, the internal dynamics can be mapped onto an effective spin model of a pair of dressed Rydberg states that describes the dynamics of Rydberg excitations in the ion crystal. We demonstrate that excitation transfer through the ion chain can be achieved on a nanosecond timescale and discuss the implementation of a fast two-qubit gate in the ion chain.