Numerical investigation of a segmented-blade ion trap with biasing rods

TL;DR

This paper presents a detailed numerical analysis of a segmented-blade ion trap with biasing rods, focusing on stable trapping, micromotion compensation, and the effects of misalignment to support quantum computing applications.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive numerical evaluation of the trap design, including voltage optimization and misalignment effects, advancing the development of reliable ion-trap quantum computers.

Findings

Identified stable rf and dc voltage configurations for trapping $^{171}$Yb$^{+}$ ions.

Demonstrated effective micromotion compensation using biasing rods.

Quantified the impact of blade misalignment on trap potential stability.

Abstract

We report a numerical study of a linear ion trap that has segmented blades and biasing rods. Our system consists of radio frequency (rf) blades, dc blades with ten separate electrodes, and two biasing rods for compensating the ions' micromotion. After calculating the optical access for the ions, we find rf and dc voltages that result in a stable trapping configuration of $^{171}$Yb$^{+}$ ions. We also explore the micromotion compensation with the biasing rods, and calculate the influence of blade misalignment to the trap potential. Our work offers quantitative understanding of the trap architecture, assisting reliable operation of an ion-trap quantum computer.