Optimal Surface-Electrode Trap Lattices for Quantum Simulation with Trapped Ions

Published

June 12, 2009

Author(s)

Roman Schmied , Janus H. Wesenberg, Dietrich Leibfried

Abstract

Trapped ions offer long internal state (spin) coherence times and strong inter-particle interactions mediated by the Coulomb force. This makes them interesting candidates for quantum simulation of coupled lattices. To this end it is desirable to be able to trap ions in arbitrary conformations with precisely controlled local potentials. We provide a general method for optimizing periodic planar radio-frequency electrodes for generating ion trapping potentials with specified trap locations and curvatures above the electrode plane. A linear-programming algorithm guarantees globally optimal electrode shapes requiring only a single radio-frequency voltage source for operation. The optimization method produces final electrode shapes that are smooth and exhibit low fragmentation. Such characteristics are desirable for practical fabrication of surface electrode trap lattices.

Citation

Physical Review Letters

Volume

102

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

ion trap, optimization, quantum simulation, surface electrode trap

Citation

Schmied, R. , Wesenberg, J. and Leibfried, D. (2009), Optimal Surface-Electrode Trap Lattices for Quantum Simulation with Trapped Ions, Physical Review Letters, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=901705 (Accessed October 9, 2025)