Comparative numerical studies of ion traps with integrated optical cavities

TL;DR

This study compares various ion trap geometries with integrated optical cavities, analyzing how dielectric mirror integration affects trapping potentials to optimize ion-photon coupling for quantum networks.

Contribution

It provides a detailed numerical analysis of trap and cavity configurations, identifying optimal alignments and material properties to minimize potential distortions.

Findings

Cavities aligned along the symmetry axis cause minimal potential distortion

Symmetric cavity configurations are most stable against misalignment

Material properties influence trapping potential distortions

Abstract

We study a range of radio-frequency ion trap geometries and investigate the effect of integrating dielectric cavity mirrors on their trapping potential. We aim to identify ion trap and cavity configurations that are best suited for achieving small cavity volumes and thus large ion-photon coupling as required for scalable quantum information networks. In particular, we investigate the trapping potential distortions caused by the dielectric material of the cavity mirrors for different mirror orientations with respect to the trapping electrodes, as well as for mirror misalignment. We also analyze the effect of the mirror material properties such as dielectric constants and surface conductivity, and study the effect of surface charges on the mirrors. The smallest trapping potential distortions are found if the cavities are aligned along the major symmetry axis of the electrode geometries. These cavity configurations also appear to be the most stable with respect to any mirror misalignment.