We report the design, fabrication and characterization of a microfabricated surface-electrode ion trap that supports controlled transport through the two-dimensional intersection of linear trapping zones arranged in a 90 • cross. The trap is fabricated with very large scalable integration techniques which are compatible with scaling to a large quantum information processor. The shape of the radio-frequency electrodes is optimized with a genetic algorithm to reduce axial pseudopotential barriers and minimize ion heating during transport. Seventy-eight independent dc control electrodes enable fine control of the trapping potentials. We demonstrate reliable ion transport between junction legs and determine the rate of ion loss due to transport. Doppler-cooled ions survive more than 10 5 round-trip transits between junction legs without loss and more than 65 consecutive round trips without laser cooling.
Abstract. 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 spatiallyvarying stray electric fields permits the formation of nearly-equally spaced ion chains.
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