Geometries and fabrication methods for 3D printing ion traps

TL;DR

This paper introduces trench geometries for ion traps that combine the fabrication simplicity of surface-electrode traps with the superior performance of 3D traps, using 3D printing techniques for scalable quantum computing applications.

Contribution

It proposes a novel trench geometry for ion traps that can be 3D-printed over existing wafers, bridging the gap between 2D and 3D trap designs.

Findings

Printed electrode structures demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed geometry.

Trench geometries offer improved trapping properties over traditional surface-electrode traps.

The approach enables scalable fabrication of high-performance ion traps.

Abstract

The majority of microfabricated ion traps in use for quantum information processing are of the 2D 'surface-electrode' type or of the 3D 'wafer' type. Surface-electrode traps greatly simplify fabrication and hold the promise of allowing trapped-ion quantum computers to scale via standard semiconductor industry fabrication techniques. However, their geometry constrains them to having much lower trapping efficiency, depth, and harmonicity compared to 3D geometries. Conversely 3D geometries offer superior trap performance but fabrication is more complex, limiting potential to scale. We describe new 'trench' geometries that exist in the design space between these two paradigms. They still allow for a simple, planar electrode layer but with much more favourable trapping properties. We propose such traps could be 3D-printed over a 2D wafer with microfabricated components already integrated into it, thus retaining all the integration techniques and scaling advantages of surface-electrode traps. As a proof of principle we use 2-photon direct laser writing lithography to print the required electrode structures with the proposed geometry.