Electric-field noise from thermally-activated fluctuators in a surface ion trap

TL;DR

This study investigates electric-field noise in surface ion traps at high temperatures, revealing a saturation of noise amplitude around 500K and linking it to thermally-activated fluctuators, which could explain decoherence issues.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of temperature-dependent electric-field noise in ion traps, connecting it to thermally-activated two-level fluctuators with specific activation energies.

Findings

Noise amplitude saturates near 500 K at 1 MHz

Noise spectrum follows a 1/f dependence with temperature variation

Thermally-activated fluctuators with 0.35-0.65 eV activation energies explain observed behavior

Abstract

We probe electric-field noise near the metal surface of an ion trap chip in a previously unexplored high-temperature regime. We observe a non-trivial temperature dependence with the noise amplitude at 1-MHz frequency saturating around 500~K. Measurements of the noise spectrum reveal a $1/f^{\alpha\approx1}$-dependence and a small decrease in $\alpha$ between low and high temperatures. This behavior can be explained by considering noise from a distribution of thermally-activated two-level fluctuators with activation energies between 0.35~eV and 0.65~eV. Processes in this energy range may be relevant to understanding electric-field noise in ion traps; for example defect motion in the solid state and surface adsorbate binding energies. Studying these processes may aid in identifying the origin of excess electric-field noise in ion traps -- a major source of ion motional decoherence limiting the performance of surface traps as quantum devices.