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arXiv:quant-ph/9710053 · Fortschritte der Physik

Vibrational Decoherence in Ion Trap Quantum Computers

Anupam Garg

Published Nov 1, 1998• 4 citations
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Abstract

The ion trap quantum computer proposed by Cirac and Zoller [Phys. Rev. Lett. 74, 4091 (1995)] is analyzed for decoherence due to vibrations of the ions. An adiabatic approximation exploiting the vast difference between the frequencies of the optical intraionic transition and the vibrational modes is used to find the decoherence time at any temperature T. The scaling of this decoherence time with the number of ions is discussed, and compared with that due to spontaneous emission.

DOI
10.1002/(sici)1521-3978(199811)46:6/8<749::aid-prop749>3.0.co;2-i

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The intrinsic decoherence from vibrational coupling of the ions in the Cirac-Zoller quantum computer [Phys. Rev. Lett. 74, 4091 (1995)] is considered. Starting from a state in which the vibrational modes are at a temperature $T$, and each ion is in a superposition of an excited and a ground state, an adiabatic approximation is used to find the inclusive probability $P(t)$ for the ions to evolve as they would without the vibrations, and for the vibrational modes to evolve into any final state. An analytic form is found for $P(t)$ at $T\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}0$, and the decoherence time is found for all $T$. The decoherence is found to be quite small, even for 1000 ions.

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The ion trap quantum computer proposed by Cirac and Zoller [Phys. Rev. Lett. 74, 4091 (1995)] is analyzed for decoherence due to vibrations of the ions. An adiabatic approximation exploiting the vast difference between the frequencies of the optical intraionic transition and the vibrational modes is used to find the decoherence time at any temperature T. The scaling of this decoherence time with the number of ions is discussed, and compared with that due to spontaneous emission.
The intrinsic decoherence from vibrational coupling of the ions in the Cirac-Zoller quantum computer [Phys. Rev. Lett. 74, 4091 (1995)] is considered. Starting from a state in which the vibrational modes are at a temperature TTT, and each ion is in a superposition of an excited and a ground state, an adiabatic approximation is used to find the inclusive probability P(t)P(t)P(t) for the ions to evolve as they would without the vibrations, and for the vibrational modes to evolve into any final state. An analytic form is found for P(t)P(t)P(t) at T=0T\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}0T=0, and the decoherence time is found for all TTT. The decoherence is found to be quite small, even for 1000 ions.
Decoherence is studied in an attractive proposal for an actual implementation of a quantum computer based on trapped ions.Emphasis is placed on the decoherence arising from the vibrational motion of the ions, which is compared with that due to spontaneous emission from excited states of the ions. The calculations is made tractable by exploiting the vast difference in time scales between the vibrational excitations and the intra-ionic electronic excitations. Since the latter are several orders of magnitude faster, an adiabatic approximation is used to integrate them out and find the inclusive probability for the electronic state of the ions to evolve as it would in the absence of vibrational coupling, and the ions to evolve into any state whatsoever. The decoherence time is found at zero temperature and for any number of ions N in the computer. Comparison is made with the spontaneous emission decoherence, and the implications for how trap voltages and other parameters should be scaled with N are discussed.
Using simple physical arguments we investigate the capabilities of a quantum computer based on cold trapped ions of the type recently proposed by Cirac and Zoller. From the limitations imposed on such a device by decoherence due to spontaneous decay, laser phase coherence times, ion heating and other possible sources of error, we derive bounds on the number of laser interactions and on the number of ions that may be used. As a quantitative measure of the possible performance of these devices, the largest number which may be factored using Shor`s quantum factoring algorithm is determined for a variety of species of ion.
Using simple physical arguments we investigate the capabilities of a quantum computer based on cold trapped ions of the type recently proposed by Cirac and Zoller. From the limitations imposed on such a device by decoherence due to spontaneous decay, laser phase coherence times, ion heating and other possible sources of error, we derive bounds on the number of laser interactions and on the number of ions that may be used. As a quantitative measure of the possible performance of these devices, the largest number which may be factored using Shor's quantum factoring algorithm is determined for a variety of species of ion.
We study analytically and numerically the properties of phonon modes in an ion quantum computer. The ion chain is placed in a harmonic trap with an additional periodic potential of which dimensionless amplitude KKK determines three main phases available for quantum computations: at zero KKK we have the case of Cirac-Zoller quantum computer, below a certain critical amplitude K<KcK<{K}_{c}K<Kc​ the ions are in the Kolmogorov-Arnold-Moser (KAM) phase, with delocalized phonon modes and free chain sliding, and above the critical amplitude K>KcK>{K}_{c}K>Kc​ ions are in the pinned Aubry phase with a finite frequency gap protecting quantum gates from temperature and other external fluctuations. For the Aubry phase, in contrast to the Cirac-Zoller and KAM phases, the phonon gap remains independent of the number of ions placed in the trap keeping a fixed ion density around the trap center. We show that in the Aubry phase the phonon modes are much better localized compared to the Cirac-Zoller and KAM cases. Thus in the Aubry phase the recoil pulses lead to local oscillations of ions, while in the other two phases they spread rapidly over the whole ion chains, making them rather sensible to external fluctuations. We argue that the properties of localized phonon modes and phonon gap in the Aubry phase provide advantages for the ion quantum computations in this phase with a large number of ions.
Anharmonicity of the quantized motional states of ions in a Paul trap can be utilized to address the state-to-state transitions selectively and control the motional modes of trapped ions coherently and adiabatically [Zhao and Babikov, Phys. Rev. A 77, 012338 (2008)]. In this paper we study two sources of the vibrational anharmonicity in the ion traps: the intrinsic Coulomb anharmonicity due to ion-ion interactions and the external anharmonicity of the trapping potential. An accurate numerical approach is used to compute energies and wave functions of vibrational eigenstates. The magnitude of the Coulomb anharmonicity is determined and shown to be insufficient for successful control. In contrast, anharmonicity of the trapping potential allows one to control the motion of ions very efficiently using the time-varying electric fields. Optimal control theory is used to derive the control pulses. One ion in a slightly anharmonic trap can be easily controlled. In the two- and three-ion systems the symmetric stretching mode is dark and cannot be controlled at all. The other two normal modes of the three-ion system can be controlled and used, for example, to encode a two-qubit system into the motional states of ions. A trap architecture that allows the necessary amount of vibrational anharmonicity to be achieved is proposed.