Speaker
Description
Trapped Rydberg ions are a unique platform for quantum information processing, metrology and simulations [1,2] as they combine the exceptional control over trapped ions with the tunable, long-range interactions of Rydberg states. Rydberg ions have been used to demonstrate sub-microsecond entangling gates [3] but one of the biggest challenges while working with Rydberg ions is double ionisation due to blackbody radiation since Rydberg states are close to the ionisation threshold. The operation of the system in a cryogenic environment would reduce this effect significantly and here we present such an experimental system. The setup hosts a surface ion trap, with separate trapping and experimental zones. The first measurements with the surface trap are presented with the goal of showcasing Rydberg excitations on such a system. The large polarisability of Rydberg ions makes them highly sensitive to surrounding electric fields and can be utilised as a precise probe for sensing microwave fields around the chip.
[1] M. Müller, et al., NJP, 10, 093009 (2008).
[2] F. Schmidt-Kaler, et al., NJP, 13, 075014 (2011).
[3] C. Zhang, et. al., Nature 580, 345 (2020)
| Academic level | PhD student |
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