Ion Storage Group

Quantum Information and Quantum-Limited Metrology

Ion Optical Clocks and Precision Measurements

The Ion Storage Group consists of John Bollinger (group leader), Didi Leibfried, Daniel Slichter, and Andrew Wilson (staff physicists, quantum information), James Chou, and David Hume (staff physicists, precision measurements) and an international group of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers working on experiments in quantum information and precision measurements. Please click on the pictures above for more information on these research areas or see our lists of publications organized by topic: Ion frequency standards, Quantum logic and coherent control, Penning traps and non-neutral plasmas, General and miscellaneous.

We frequently have research opportunities for motivated students and postdocs. Please contact us if you are interested in learning about current opportunities.

News and Updates

Ion trap is tiny chip held in place as part of a larger metal scientific device.

Spotlight: An (Almost) Laser-Free Way to Trap Ions for Quantum Computing

September 9, 2021

Look Ma, (almost) no lasers! NIST researchers and collaborators found a potential new way to make more powerful quantum computers based on ions (charged atoms)

Two men in dark goggles stand over a table of scientific equipment.

NIST’s Quantum Crystal Could Be a New Dark Matter Sensor

August 5, 2021

Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have linked together, or “entangled,” the mechanical motion and electronic properties of

Illustration shows two buildings labeled "NIST" and "JILA" facing each other with mountains in the background.

NIST Team Compares 3 Top Atomic Clocks With Record Accuracy Over Both Fiber and Air

March 24, 2021

In a significant advance toward the future redefinition of the international unit of time, the second, a research team led by the National Institute of

A rectangular chip features a brass-colored bow-tie shape on black background.

Spotlight: New Ion Trap With Single-Photon Detector

January 9, 2021

Putting a bow tie on quantum information processing, NIST researchers have a new ion trap with a component that could be key to streamlining the construction of

Projects and Programs

Ion Optical Clocks and Precision Measurements

Our research focuses on the use of trapped ions for precision measurements. In particular, we are interested in optical frequency metrology, which provides the

Images shows the electrodes of an ion trap spanning multiple trap zones. Electrodes are labelled: load zone, rf electrode and experiment zone

Quantum Information and Quantum-Limited Metrology

Ongoing

The coherent control of quantum-mechanical systems holds promise for revolutionizing technologies including computing, simulation, secure communication and

Publications

High-fidelity laser-free universal control of trapped ion qubits

September 8, 2021

Author(s)

Raghavendra Srinivas, Emanuel Knill, Robert Sutherland, Alexander T. Kwiatkowski, Hannah M. Knaack, Scott Glancy, David J. Wineland, Shaun C. Burd, Dietrich Leibfried, Andrew C. Wilson, David T. Allcock, Daniel Slichter

Universal control of multiple qubits—the ability to entangle qubits and to perform arbitrary individual qubit operations—is a fundamental resource for quantum

Motional Squeezing for Trapped Ion Transport and Separation

August 20, 2021

Author(s)

Robert Sutherland, Shaun Burd, Daniel Slichter, Stephen Libby, Dietrich Leibfried

Transport, separation, and merging of trapped ion crystals are essential operations for most large-scale quantum computing architectures. In this Letter, we

Resource-efficient dissipative entanglement of two trapped-ion qubits

August 6, 2021

Author(s)

Daniel Cole, Stephen Erickson, Giorgio Zarantonello, Panyu Hou, Jenny Wu, Karl Horn, Daniel Slichter, Florentin Reiter, Christiane Koch, Dietrich Leibfried

We demonstrate a simplified method for generating an entangled state of two trapped-ion qubits. Our implementation produces its target state faster and with

Quantum amplification of boson-mediated interactions

May 13, 2021

Author(s)

Shaun C. Burd, Raghavendra Srinivas, Hannah M. Knaack, Wenchao Ge, Andrew C. Wilson, David J. Wineland, Dietrich Leibfried, John J. Bollinger, David T. Allcock, Daniel Slichter

Strong and precisely controlled interactions between quantum objects are essential for quantum information processing\citeSackett2000,Majer2007}, simulation

Awards

2021 - Bronze Medal Award---Chin-wen Chou, David Hume, David Leibrandt, Dietrich Leibfried, Tara Fortier, Scott Diddams, Alejandra Collopy

For breakthrough metrology to control and entangle atomic and molecular ions, providing powerful new approaches to quantum computing and networking.

Ion Storage Group

News and Updates

Spotlight: An (Almost) Laser-Free Way to Trap Ions for Quantum Computing

NIST’s Quantum Crystal Could Be a New Dark Matter Sensor

NIST Team Compares 3 Top Atomic Clocks With Record Accuracy Over Both Fiber and Air

Spotlight: New Ion Trap With Single-Photon Detector

Projects and Programs

Ion Optical Clocks and Precision Measurements

Quantum Information and Quantum-Limited Metrology

Publications

High-fidelity laser-free universal control of trapped ion qubits

Motional Squeezing for Trapped Ion Transport and Separation

Resource-efficient dissipative entanglement of two trapped-ion qubits

Quantum amplification of boson-mediated interactions

Awards

2021 - Bronze Medal Award---Chin-wen Chou, David Hume, David Leibrandt, Dietrich Leibfried, Tara Fortier, Scott Diddams, Alejandra Collopy

2021 APS Fellow - David Leibrandt

2021 EFTF Young Scientist Award - David Leibrandt

2020 Distinguished Associate Award - Jenny Wu

Group Highlights

Useful Links

Contacts

Group Leader