Compatibility of trapped ions and dielectrics at cryogenic temperatures

Published

November 17, 2025

Author(s)

Margaret Bruff, Lindsay Sonderhouse, Kaitlyn David, Daniel Slichter, Dietrich Leibfried, Jules Stuart

Abstract

We study the impact of an unshielded dielectric\textemdash here, a bare optical fiber\textemdash on a $^40}$Ca$^+}$ ion held several hundred $\mu$m away in a cryogenic surface electrode trap. We observe distance-dependent stray electric fields of up to a few kV/m due to the dielectric, which drift less than 1\% per day and can be fully compensated with reasonable voltages on the trap electrodes. We observe ion motional heating rates attributable to the dielectric of up to $\approx30$ quanta per second at an ion-fiber distance of 215\,$\mu$m and 1.5 MHz motional frequency. These results demonstrate the viability of using unshielded, trap-integrated dielectric objects such as miniature optical cavities or other optical elements in cryogenic surface electrode traps.

Citation

Physical Review Letters

Pub Type

Journals

Keywords

quantum networking, trapped ions, optical cavities, integrated photonics, quantum information

Citation

Bruff, M. , Sonderhouse, L. , David, K. , Slichter, D. , Leibfried, D. and Stuart, J. (2025), Compatibility of trapped ions and dielectrics at cryogenic temperatures, Physical Review Letters (Accessed November 20, 2025)