Ultra-Fast Control of Trapped Ions

• Forschungsstelle: COST
• Projektnummer: C12.0118
• Projekttitel Englisch: Ultra-Fast Control of Trapped Ions

Schlüsselwörter (Englisch)

rf trap; ion trap; quantum control; motional control; ion transport; squeezed states; entanglement; continuous quantum variable; trap dynamics

Forschungsprogramme (Englisch)

COST-Action MP1001 - Ion Traps for Tomorrow's Applications

Kurzbeschreibung (Englisch)

The quantum mechanical motion of trapped atomic ions in rf traps can be manipulated with a very high degree of control. This has lead to a number of pioneering demonstrations of quantum state engineering of harmonic oscillators. Until now, all such manipulations have been performed on timescales slow compared to the oscillation frequencies of the ions in the trap. Current state of the art methods for controlling the trap-electrode voltages are limited in the speed of control which can be produced because the control electronics are positioned far from the trap itself. In this setting, high speed control is incompatible both with the need to filter out electrical noise at frequencies close to the ion oscillation frequencies, and with the relatively large capacitances inherent in the electrical connections between voltage sources and the trap itself. Both factors considerably attenuate high-frequency components. We propose to go beyond these limitations and enter a new ultra-fast regime for trapped-ion control, by producing nanosecond timescale shifts in trap potentials using CMOS control switches close to the trap itself. This could enable an order of magnitude increase in ion transport speeds which currently limit quantum computing, and opens a range of novel possibilities for motional-state squeezing and entanglement of the motion of multiple ions. These techniques could find applications in quantum aided sensing and studies of fundamental quantum mechanics.

Weitere Hinweise und Angaben (Englisch)

Full name of research-institution/enterprise: ETH Zürich Institute for Quantum Electronics Trapped Ion Quantum Information Group

Partner und Internationale Organisationen (Englisch)

AT; BE; BG; DK; FI; FR; DE; IL; IT; NL; PL; PT; RO; ES; CH; UK

Abstract (Englisch)

Trapped ions are among the most precisely controlled quantum systems in science. This makes them a leading technology for investigations of the behaviour and evolution of quantum states. This has applications to the simulation of many-body quantum systems or to building a quantum information processor, where the latter holds the possibility to compute problems which do not scale efficiently on classical computers. Two major challenges for producing a trapped-ion quantum processor are to increase both the operation speed and the number of trapped-ion quantum bits which can be manipulated. This project aims to meet both challenges. We aim to improve operation speed by demonstrating new methods for transporting ions in traps, based on CMOS switching of the potentials in which the ions are trapped.The use of CMOS switches offers a new regime where the trap potentials change on timescales much faster than the ion can respond. This alternative to the current state of the art methods should result in an order of magnitude increase in transport speed. This is critical to processor speed, since ion transport is currently the leading source of latency in ion trap systems. The work will be performed in microfabricated traps with multiple trapping zones, a technology which is scalable to larger systems.

Datenbankreferenzen (Englisch)

Swiss Database: COST-DB of the State Secretariat for Education and Research Hallwylstrasse 4 CH-3003 Berne, Switzerland Tel. [phone] Swiss Project-Number: C12.0118