189 research outputs found
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
Manipulation and Detection of a Trapped Yb+ Ion Hyperfine Qubit
We demonstrate the use of trapped ytterbium ions as quantum bits for quantum
information processing. We implement fast, efficient state preparation and
state detection of the first-order magnetic field-insensitive hyperfine levels
of 171Yb+, with a measured coherence time of 2.5 seconds. The high efficiency
and high fidelity of these operations is accomplished through the stabilization
and frequency modulation of relevant laser sources.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, 1 tabl
Integration of fluorescence collection optics with a microfabricated surface electrode ion trap
We have successfully demonstrated an integrated optical system for collecting
the fluorescence from a trapped ion. The system, consisting of an array of
transmissive, dielectric micro-optics and an optical fiber array, has been
intimately incorporated into the ion-trapping chip without negatively impacting
trapping performance. Epoxies, vacuum feedthrough, and optical component
materials were carefully chosen so that they did not degrade the vacuum
environment, and we have demonstrated light detection as well as ion trapping
and shuttling behavior comparable to trapping chips without integrated optics,
with no modification to the control voltages of the trapping chip.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figure
Entanglement Sudden Death in Band Gaps
Using the pseudomode method, we evaluate exactly time-dependent entanglement
for two independent qubits, each coupled to a non-Markovian structured
environment. Our results suggest a possible way to control entanglement sudden
death by modifying the qubit-pseudomode detuning and the spectrum of the
reservoirs. Particularly, in environments structured by a model of a
density-of-states gap which has two poles, entanglement trapping and prevention
of entanglement sudden death occur in the weak-coupling regime
Efficient Photoionization-Loading of Trapped Cadmium Ions with Ultrafast Pulses
Atomic cadmium ions are loaded into radiofrequency ion traps by
photoionization of atoms in a cadmium vapor with ultrafast laser pulses. The
photoionization is driven through an intermediate atomic resonance with a
frequency-quadrupled mode-locked Ti:Sapphire laser that produces pulses of
either 100 fsec or 1 psec duration at a central wavelength of 229 nm. The large
bandwidth of the pulses photoionizes all velocity classes of the Cd vapor,
resulting in high loading efficiencies compared to previous ion trap loading
techniques. Measured loading rates are compared with a simple theoretical
model, and we conclude that this technique can potentially ionize every atom
traversing the laser beam within the trapping volume. This may allow the
operation of ion traps with lower levels of background pressures and less trap
electrode surface contamination. The technique and laser system reported here
should be applicable to loading most laser-cooled ion species.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figure
Quantum mechanical effect of path-polarization contextuality for a single photon
Using measurements pertaining to a suitable Mach-Zehnder(MZ) type setup, a
curious quantum mechanical effect of contextuality between the path and the
polarization degrees of freedom of a polarized photon is demonstrated, without
using any notion of realism or hidden variables - an effect that holds good for
the product as well as the entangled states. This form of experimental
context-dependence is manifested in a way such that at \emph{either} of the two
exit channels of the MZ setup used, the empirically verifiable
\emph{subensemble} statistical properties obtained by an arbitrary polarization
measurement depend upon the choice of a commuting(comeasurable) path
observable, while this effect disappears for the \emph{whole ensemble} of
photons emerging from the two exit channels of the MZ setup.Comment: To be published in IJT
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
Shaping the Phase of a Single Photon
While the phase of a coherent light field can be precisely known, the phase
of the individual photons that create this field, considered individually,
cannot. Phase changes within single-photon wave packets, however, have
observable effects. In fact, actively controlling the phase of individual
photons has been identified as a powerful resource for quantum communication
protocols. Here we demonstrate the arbitrary phase control of a single photon.
The phase modulation is applied without affecting the photon's amplitude
profile and is verified via a two-photon quantum interference measurement,
which can result in the fermionic spatial behaviour of photon pairs. Combined
with previously demonstrated control of a single photon's amplitude, frequency,
and polarisation, the fully deterministic phase shaping presented here allows
for the complete control of single-photon wave packets.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Effects of decoherence and errors on Bell-inequality violation
We study optimal conditions for violation of the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt
form of the Bell inequality in the presence of decoherence and measurement
errors. We obtain all detector configurations providing the maximal Bell
inequality violation for a general (pure or mixed) state. We consider local
decoherence which includes energy relaxation at the zero temperature and
arbitrary dephasing. Conditions for the maximal Bell-inequality violation in
the presence of decoherence are analyzed both analytically and numerically for
the general case and for a number of important special cases. Combined effects
of measurement errors and decoherence are also discussed.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figure
Design, Fabrication, and Experimental Demonstration of Junction Surface Ion Traps
We present the design, fabrication, and experimental implementation of
surface ion traps with Y-shaped junctions. The traps are designed to minimize
the pseudopotential variations in the junction region at the symmetric
intersection of three linear segments. We experimentally demonstrate robust
linear and junction shuttling with greater than one million round-trip shuttles
without ion loss. By minimizing the direct line of sight between trapped ions
and dielectric surfaces, negligible day-to-day and trap-to-trap variations are
observed. In addition to high-fidelity single-ion shuttling, multiple-ion
chains survive splitting, ion-position swapping, and recombining routines. The
development of two-dimensional trapping structures is an important milestone
for ion-trap quantum computing and quantum simulations.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure
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