Optimal electrode geometries for 2-dimensional ion arrays with bi-layer ion traps

TL;DR

This paper explores electrode geometries for 2D ion-trap arrays with bi-layer structures, demonstrating increased trap density and coupling, which could advance quantum simulation capabilities.

Contribution

It generalizes previous single-plane trap methods to bi-layer geometries, achieving higher trap density and deeper traps for 2D ion arrays.

Findings

Inter-ion distance can be reduced by up to 3 times

Trap density increases by a factor of 9

Exchange coupling increases by a factor of 27

Abstract

We investigate electrode geometries required to produce periodic 2-dimensional ion-trap arrays with the ions placed between two planes of electrodes. We present a generalization of previous methods for traps containing a single electrode plane to this new geometry, and show that for a given ion-electrode distance and applied voltages, the inter-ion distance can be reduced by a factor of up to 3 relative to single-plane traps. This represents an increase by a factor of 9 in the trap density and a factor of 27 in the exchange coupling between the oscillatory motion of neighboring ions. The resulting traps are also considerably deeper for bi-layer structures than for single-plane traps. These results could offer a useful path towards 2-dimensional ion arrays for quantum simulation. We also discuss issues with the fabrication of such traps.