Speaker
Description
Trapped ions are among the most precise hardware platforms for quantum information processing (QIP). Among various ion species, Barium ions are especially promising for scaling up quantum processors. They can be manipulated using visible light, for which advanced photonic devices such as fiber-based modulators are available, unlike the ultraviolet light required for most other ion species. Further, the availability of long-lived metastable states allows for encoding more than two-level systems, or qudits, in a single ion – expanding the controllable Hilbert space. Here, we present our progress towards developing a Barium ion quantum processor. We have successfully trapped 138Ba+ ions in a microfabricated surface trap – a major technical milestone. We use laser ablation to generate a plume of Barium atoms from a metallic target, then apply a two-step photoionization process to ionize and trap ions in an isotope-selective way. We outline challenges that we had to overcome to trap ions, such as the low trapping depth of the surface trap, high plume speed caused by laser ablation, and the existence of coherent dark states. These challenges require optimization over a large parameter space, including the positions, frequencies, and powers of several laser beams, and the voltages of trapping electrodes. We discuss our strategy for drastically reducing the parameter space through careful optical engineering, monitoring and remote control of various system parameters, and systematically searching the parameter space. The Barium ion system forms the basis of a versatile testbed for quantum simulation, as well as employing other quantum algorithms with both qubits and qudits.
| Keyword-1 | Quantum Computer |
|---|---|
| Keyword-2 | Trapped Ion |
| Keyword-3 | Barium Ion |