Cavity sideband cooling of a single trapped ion

We report a demonstration and quantitative characterization of one-dimensional cavity cooling of a single trapped 88Sr+ ion in the resolved sideband regime. We measure the spectrum of cavity transitions, the rates of cavity heating and cooling, and the steady-state cooling limit. The cavity cooling dynamics and cooling limit of 22.5(3) motional quanta, limited by the moderate coupling between the ion and the cavity, are consistent with a simple model [Phys. Rev. A 64, 033405] without any free parameters, validating the rate equation model for cavity cooling.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Demonstration of a quantum logic gate in a cryogenic surface-electrode ion trap

We demonstrate quantum control techniques for a single trapped ion in a cryogenic, surface-electrode trap. A narrow optical transition of Sr+ along with the ground and first excited motional states of the harmonic trapping potential form a two-qubit system. The optical qubit transition is susceptible to magnetic field fluctuations, which we stabilize with a simple and compact method using superconducting rings. Decoherence of the motional qubit is suppressed by the cryogenic environment. AC Stark shift correction is accomplished by controlling the laser phase in the pulse sequencer, eliminating the need for an additional laser. Quantum process tomography is implemented on atomic and motional states using conditional pulse sequences. With these techniques we demonstrate a Cirac-Zoller Controlled-NOT gate in a single ion with a mean fidelity of 91(1)%.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, 4 table

High fidelity quantum gates with ions in cryogenic microfabricated ion traps

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 2008.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Includes bibliographical references (p. 135-146).While quantum information processing offers a tantalizing possibility of a significant speedup in execution of certain algorithms, as well as enabling previously unmanageable simulations of large quantum systems, it remains extremely difficult to realize experimentally. Recently, fundamental building blocks of a quantum computer, including one and two qubit gates, teleportation and error correction, were demonstrated using trapped atomic ions. Scaling to a larger number of qubits requires miniaturization of the ion traps, currently limited by the sharply increasing motional state decoherence at sub-100 [mu]m ion-electrode distances. This thesis explores the source and suppression of this decoherence at cryogenic temperatures, and demonstrates fundamental logic gates in a surface electrode ion trap. Construction of the apparatus requires the development of a number of experimental techniques. Design, numerical simulation and implementation of a surface electrode ion trap is presented. Cryogenic cooling of the trap to near 4 K is accomplished by contact with a bath cryostat. Ions are loaded by ablation or photoionization, both of which are characterized in terms of generated stray fields and heat load. The bulk of new experimental results deals with measurements of electric field noise at the ion's position. Upon cooling to 6 K, the measured rates are suppressed by up to 7 orders of magnitude, more than two orders of magnitude below previously published data for similarly sized traps operated at room temperature. The observed noise depends strongly on fabrication process, which suggests further improvements are possible. The measured dependence of the electric field noise on temperature is inconsistent with published models, and can be explained using a continuous spectrum of activated fluctuators. The fabricated surface electrode traps are used to demonstrate coherent operations and the classical control required for trapped ion quantum computation. The necessary spectral properties of coherent light sources are achieved with a novel design using optical feedback to a triangular, medium finesse, cavity, followed by electronic feedback to an ultra-high finesse reference cavity.(cont.) Single and two qubit operations on a single ion are demonstrated with classical fidelity in excess of 95%. Magnetic field gradient coils built into the trap allow for individual addressing of ions, a prerequisite to scaling to multiple qubits.by Jarosław Labaziewicz.Ph.D

Superconducting microfabricated ion traps

We fabricate superconducting ion traps with niobium and niobium nitride and trap single 88Sr ions at cryogenic temperatures. The superconducting transition is verified and characterized by measuring the resistance and critical current using a 4-wire measurement on the trap structure, and observing change in the rf reflection. The lowest observed heating rate is 2.1(3) quanta/sec at 800 kHz at 6 K and shows no significant change across the superconducting transition, suggesting that anomalous heating is primarily caused by noise sources on the surface. This demonstration of superconducting ion traps opens up possibilities for integrating trapped ions and molecular ions with superconducting devices.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figure

Individual addressing of ions using magnetic field gradients in a surface-electrode ion trap

Dense array of ions in microfabricated traps represent one possible way to scale up ion trap quantum computing. The ability to address individual ions is an important component of such a scheme. We demonstrate individual addressing of trapped ions in a microfabricated surface-electrode trap using a magnetic field gradient generated on-chip. A frequency splitting of 310(2) kHz for two ions separated by 5 um is achieved. Selective single qubit operations are performed on one of two trapped ions with an average of 2.2+/-1.0% crosstalk. Coherence time as measured by the spin-echo technique is unaffected by the field gradient.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures; submitted to AP

Electron impact ionization loading of a surface electrode ion trap

We demonstrate a method for loading surface electrode ion traps by electron impact ionization. The method relies on the property of surface electrode geometries that the trap depth can be increased at the cost of more micromotion. By introducing a buffer gas, we can counteract the rf heating assocated with the micromotion and benefit from the larger trap depth. After an initial loading of the trap, standard compensation techniques can be used to cancel the stray fields resulting from charged dielectric and allow for the loading of the trap at ultra-high vacuum.Comment: 4 pages, 5 eps figures. Shift in focus, minor correction

Suppression of Heating Rates in Cryogenic Surface-Electrode Ion Traps

Dense arrays of trapped ions provide one way of scaling up ion trap quantum information processing. However, miniaturization of ion traps is currently limited by sharply increasing motional state decoherence at sub-100 um ion-electrode distances. We characterize heating rates in cryogenically cooled surface-electrode traps, with characteristic sizes in 75 um to 150 um range. Upon cooling to 6 K, the measured rates are suppressed by 7 orders of magnitude, two orders of magnitude below previously published data of similarly sized traps operated at room temperature. The observed noise depends strongly on fabrication process, which suggests further improvements are possible.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

The Kondo Effect in the Presence of Magnetic Impurities

We measure transport through gold grain quantum dots fabricated using electromigration, with magnetic impurities in the leads. A Kondo interaction is observed between dot and leads, but the presence of magnetic impurities results in a gate-dependent zero-bias conductance peak that is split due to an RKKY interaction between the spin of the dot and the static spins of the impurities. A magnetic field restores the single Kondo peak in the case of an antiferromagnetic RKKY interaction. This system provides a new platform to study Kondo and RKKY interactions in metals at the level of a single spin.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Cryogenic Ion Trapping Systems with Surface-Electrode Traps

We present two simple cryogenic RF ion trap systems in which cryogenic temperatures and ultra high vacuum pressures can be reached in as little as 12 hours. The ion traps are operated either in a liquid helium bath cryostat or in a low vibration closed cycle cryostat. The fast turn around time and availability of buffer gas cooling made the systems ideal for testing surface-electrode ion traps. The vibration amplitude of the closed cycled cryostat was found to be below 106 nm. We evaluated the systems by loading surface-electrode ion traps with $^{88}$Sr$^+$ ions using laser ablation, which is compatible with the cryogenic environment. Using Doppler cooling we observed small ion crystals in which optically resolved ions have a trapped lifetime over 2500 minutes.Comment: 10 pages, 13 EPS figure

A microfabricated surface ion trap on a high-finesse optical mirror

A novel approach to optics integration in ion traps is demonstrated based on a surface electrode ion trap that is microfabricated on top of a dielectric mirror. Additional optical losses due to fabrication are found to be as low as 80 ppm for light at 422 nm. The integrated mirror is used to demonstrate light collection from, and imaging of, a single 88 Sr+ ion trapped $169\pm4 \mu$m above the mirror.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure