Realization of two-dimensional crystal of ions in a monolithic Paul trap

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a simple, stable monolithic Paul trap capable of creating and manipulating a two-dimensional ion crystal suitable for quantum simulation, with detailed analysis of ion arrangement and vibrational modes.

Contribution

The paper introduces a novel, easy-to-construct Paul trap that forms a stable two-dimensional ion crystal on a single alumina plate, enabling advanced quantum simulation experiments.

Findings

Stable 2D ion crystal with ~5 μm spacing

Successful coherent manipulation of ion-qubits

Micro-motion amplitude comparable to single ions

Abstract

We present a simple Paul trap that stably accommodates up to a couple of dozens of \ensuremath{^{171}\mathrm{Yb}^+~} ions in a stationary two-dimensional lattice. The trap is constructed on a single plate of gold-plated laser-machined alumina and can produce a pancake-like pseudo-potential that makes ions form a self-assembly two-dimensional crystal which locates on the plane composed of axial and one of the transverse axes with around 5 $\mu$m spacing. We use Raman laser beams to coherently manipulate these ion-qubits where the net propagation direction is perpendicular to the plane of the crystal and micromotion. We perform the coherent operations and study the spectrum of vibrational modes through globally addressed Raman laser-beams on a dozen of ions in the two-dimensional crystal. We measure the amplitude of micro-motion by comparing the strengths of carrier and micro-motion sideband transitions with three ions, where the micro-motion amplitude is similar to that of a single ion. The spacings of ions are small enough for large coupling strengths, which is a favorable condition for two-dimensional quantum simulation.