We describe the use of laser-enhanced etching of fused silica in order to build multi-layer ion traps. This technique offers high precision of both machining and alignment of adjacent wafers. As examples of designs taking advantage of this possibility, we describe traps for realizing two key elements of scaling trapped ion systems. The first is a trap for a cavity-QED interface between single ions and photons, in which the fabrication allows shapes that provide good electro-static shielding of the ion from charge build-up on the mirror surfaces. The second incorporates two X-junctions allowing two-dimensional shuttling of ions. Here we are able to investigate designs which explore a trade-off between pseudo-potential barriers and confinement at the junction center. In both cases we illustrate the design constraints arising from the fabrication. arXiv:1907.05329v1 [physics.app-ph]
We describe the implementation of a three-dimensional Paul ion trap fabricated from a stack of precision-machined silica glass wafers, which incorporates a pair of junctions for two-dimensional ion transport. The trap has 142 dedicated electrodes which can be used to define multiple potential wells in which strings of ions can be held. By supplying time-varying potentials, this also allows for transport and re-configuration of ion strings. We describe the design, simulation, fabrication and packaging of the trap, including explorations of different parameter regimes and possible optimizations and design choices. We give results of initial testing of the trap, including measurements of heating rates and junction transport.
We demonstrate the ability to load, cool and detect singly charged calcium ions in a surface electrode trap using only visible and infrared lasers for the trapped-ion control. As opposed to the standard methods of cooling using dipole-allowed transitions, we combine power broadening of a quadrupole transition at 729 nm with quenching of the upper level using a dipole allowed transition at 854 nm. By observing the resulting 393 nm fluorescence we are able to perform background-free detection of the ion. We show that this system can be used to smoothly transition between the Doppler cooling and sideband cooling regimes, and verify theoretical predictions throughout this range. We achieve scattering rates which reliably allow recooling after collision events and allow ions to be loaded from a thermal atomic beam. This work is compatible with recent advances in optical waveguides, and thus opens a path in current technologies for large-scale quantum information processing. In situations where dielectric materials are placed close to trapped ions, it carries the additional advantage of using wavelengths which do not lead to significant charging, which should facilitate high rate optical interfaces between remotely held ions.
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