NOTICE: Due to a lapse in annual appropriations, most of this website is not being updated. Learn more.
Form submissions will still be accepted but will not receive responses at this time. Sections of this site for programs using non-appropriated funds (such as NVLAP) or those that are excepted from the shutdown (such as CHIPS and NVD) will continue to be updated.
An official website of the United States government
Here’s how you know
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (
) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
Motional Squeezing for Trapped Ion Transport and Separation
Published
Author(s)
Robert Sutherland, Shaun Burd, Daniel Slichter, Stephen Libby, Dietrich Leibfried
Abstract
Transport, separation, and merging of trapped ion crystals are essential operations for most large-scale quantum computing architectures. In this Letter, we develop a theoretical framework that describes the dynamics of ions in time-varying potentials with a motional squeeze operator, followed by a motional displacement operator. Using this framework, we develop a new, general protocol for trapped ion transport, separation, and merging. We show that motional squeezing can prepare an ion wave packet to enable transfer from the ground state of one trapping potential to another. The framework and protocol are applicable if the potential is harmonic over the extent of the ion wave packets at all times. As illustrations, we discuss two specific operations: changing the strength of the confining potential for a single ion and separating same-species ions with their mutual Coulomb force. Both of these operations are, ideally, free of residual motional excitation.
Sutherland, R.
, Burd, S.
, Slichter, D.
, Libby, S.
and Leibfried, D.
(2021),
Motional Squeezing for Trapped Ion Transport and Separation, Physical Review Letters, [online], https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.083201, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=932030
(Accessed October 7, 2025)