Trap-integrated superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors for trapped-ion qubit state readout

Published

June 7, 2024

Author(s)

Benedikt Hampel, Daniel Slichter, Dietrich Leibfried, Richard Mirin, Varun Verma

Abstract

State readout of trapped-ion qubits is usually achieved by observing qubit-state-dependent fluorescence from the ion while driving an optical cycling transition with laser light. The integration of photon detectors for fluorescence detection into the ion trap itself may benefit the development of many-qubit setups for applications like quantum computing. Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) are promising candidates for trap-integrated detectors for high-fidelity trapped-ion qubit state readout. However, the strong oscillating electromagnetic fields that are typically used to trap and manipulate ions can affect the function of the SNSPDs significantly. In this work, we demonstrate an improved design to integrate SNSPDs into linear rf ion traps that reduces the susceptibility of the SNSPDs to applied rf trapping potentials. Our measurement results represent an improvement in rf tolerance by an order of magnitude with an increase in operation temperature from 3.5K to 6K compared to previous work.

Proceedings Title

Advanced Photon Counting Techniques XVIII

Volume

13025

Conference Dates

April 21-25, 2024

Conference Location

National Harbor, MD, US

Conference Title

"Advanced Photon Counting Techniques XVIII" at the "SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing"

Pub Type

Conferences

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3014455

Local Download

Keywords

SNSPD, ion trap, quantum computing, qubit state readout, Qubit, Single photon, State readout, Superconducting detector

Citation

Hampel, B. , Slichter, D. , Leibfried, D. , Mirin, R. and Verma, V. (2024), Trap-integrated superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors for trapped-ion qubit state readout, Advanced Photon Counting Techniques XVIII, National Harbor, MD, US, [online], https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3014455, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=957739 (Accessed October 8, 2025)