Fast expansions and compressions of trapped-ion chains

TL;DR

This paper develops rapid, low-excitation protocols for expanding and compressing trapped-ion chains, enhancing the speed and efficiency of quantum operations crucial for scalable quantum computing.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method combining normal-mode approximation and inverse engineering to minimize motional excitations during fast ion chain manipulations.

Findings

Protocols significantly reduce transition times.

Minimized motional excitations during expansions/compressions.

Potential to improve scalable quantum information processing.

Abstract

We investigate the dynamics under diabatic expansions/compressions of linear ion chains.Combining a dynamical normal-mode harmonic approximation with the invariant-based inverse-engineering technique, we design protocols that minimize the final motional excitation of the ions. This can substantially reduce the transition time between high and low trap-frequency operations, potentially contributing to the development of scalable quantum information processing.