Principal Investigator Isaac Chuang
Surface-electrode ion traps provide one promising system for realizing large-scale quantum computing. However, a significant problem facing ion traps is the "anomalous heating" which grows rapidly with decreasing trap size, due to sensitivity to surface charges. We have demonstrated orders of magnitude reductions in anomalous heating by operating the traps at cryogenic temperatures, and performed a two-ion quantum logic gate in such a system. Current work focuses on characterizing the sensitivity of such traps to laser-induced static surface charges and exploring the effects of various trap electrode materials and processing techniques on trap performance.