176 research outputs found
Quantum Interference of Photon Pairs from Two Trapped Atomic Ions
We collect the fluorescence from two trapped atomic ions, and measure quantum
interference between photons emitted from the ions. The interference of two
photons is a crucial component of schemes to entangle atomic qubits based on a
photonic coupling. The ability to preserve the generated entanglement and to
repeat the experiment with the same ions is necessary to implement entangling
quantum gates between atomic qubits, and allows the implementation of protocols
to efficiently scale to larger numbers of atomic qubits.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Broadband laser cooling of trapped atoms with ultrafast pulses
We demonstrate broadband laser cooling of atomic ions in an rf trap using
ultrafast pulses from a modelocked laser. The temperature of a single ion is
measured by observing the size of a time-averaged image of the ion in the known
harmonic trap potential. While the lowest observed temperature was only about 1
K, this method efficiently cools very hot atoms and can sufficiently localize
trapped atoms to produce near diffraction-limited atomic images
Heating rate and electrode charging measurements in a scalable, microfabricated, surface-electrode ion trap
We characterise the performance of a surface-electrode ion "chip" trap
fabricated using established semiconductor integrated circuit and
micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) microfabrication processes which are in
principle scalable to much larger ion trap arrays, as proposed for implementing
ion trap quantum information processing. We measure rf ion micromotion parallel
and perpendicular to the plane of the trap electrodes, and find that on-package
capacitors reduce this to <~ 10 nm in amplitude. We also measure ion trapping
lifetime, charging effects due to laser light incident on the trap electrodes,
and the heating rate for a single trapped ion. The performance of this trap is
found to be comparable with others of the same size scale.Comment: 6 pages, 10 figure
Fast Excitation and Photon Emission of a Single-Atom-Cavity System
We report on the fast excitation of a single atom coupled to an optical
cavity using laser pulses that are much shorter than all other relevant
processes. The cavity frequency constitutes a control parameter that allows the
creation of single photons in a superposition of two tunable frequencies. Each
photon emitted from the cavity thus exhibits a pronounced amplitude modulation
determined by the oscillatory energy exchange between the atom and the cavity.
Our technique constitutes a versatile tool for future quantum networking
experiments.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Controlling trapping potentials and stray electric fields in a microfabricated ion trap through design and compensation
Recent advances in quantum information processing with trapped ions have
demonstrated the need for new ion trap architectures capable of holding and
manipulating chains of many (>10) ions. Here we present the design and detailed
characterization of a new linear trap, microfabricated with scalable
complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) techniques, that is well-suited
to this challenge. Forty-four individually controlled DC electrodes provide the
many degrees of freedom required to construct anharmonic potential wells,
shuttle ions, merge and split ion chains, precisely tune secular mode
frequencies, and adjust the orientation of trap axes. Microfabricated
capacitors on DC electrodes suppress radio-frequency pickup and excess
micromotion, while a top-level ground layer simplifies modeling of electric
fields and protects trap structures underneath. A localized aperture in the
substrate provides access to the trapping region from an oven below, permitting
deterministic loading of particular isotopic/elemental sequences via
species-selective photoionization. The shapes of the aperture and
radio-frequency electrodes are optimized to minimize perturbation of the
trapping pseudopotential. Laboratory experiments verify simulated potentials
and characterize trapping lifetimes, stray electric fields, and ion heating
rates, while measurement and cancellation of spatially-varying stray electric
fields permits the formation of nearly-equally spaced ion chains.Comment: 17 pages (including references), 7 figure
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