Efficient fluorescence collection from trapped ions with an integrated spherical mirror

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a simple integrated spherical mirror in an ion trap setup that significantly improves fluorescence collection efficiency to at least 10%, enhancing quantum measurement and entanglement capabilities.

Contribution

The study introduces an integrated spherical mirror with aberration correction to boost fluorescence collection efficiency in trapped ion systems.

Findings

Achieved at least 10% photon collection efficiency from a single Ba+ ion.

Used an aspheric corrector to reduce mirror aberrations and improve image quality.

Simple integration of a metallic spherical mirror enhances quantum optics applications.

Abstract

Efficient collection of fluorescence from trapped ions is crucial for quantum optics and quantum computing applications, specifically, for qubit state detection and in generating single photons for ion-photon and remote ion entanglement. In a typical setup, only a few per cent of ion fluorescence is intercepted by the aperture of the imaging optics. We employ a simple metallic spherical mirror integrated with a linear Paul ion trap to achieve photon collection efficiency of at least 10% from a single Ba$^+$ ion. An aspheric corrector is used to reduce the aberrations caused by the mirror and achieve high image quality.