Impact of micromotion and field-axis misalignment on the excitation of Rydberg states of ions in a Paul trap

TL;DR

This paper investigates how micromotion and electric field misalignment affect Rydberg state excitation in trapped ions within Paul traps, crucial for advancing quantum simulation and computation.

Contribution

It provides a systematic analysis of the impact of field misalignment on Rydberg excitation spectra using a minimal model with numerical and analytical methods.

Findings

Micromotion significantly alters Rydberg excitation spectra.

Certain parameter regimes preserve addressable Rydberg lines.

Field misalignment can be systematically analyzed using Floquet theory.

Abstract

Trapped ions are among the most advanced platforms for quantum simulation and computation. Their capabilities can be further augmented by making use of electronically highly excited Rydberg states, which enable the realization of long-ranged electric dipolar interactions. Most experimental and theoretical studies so far focus on the excitation of ionic Rydberg states in linear Paul traps, which generate confinement by a combination of static and oscillating electric fields. These two fields need to be carefully aligned to minimize so-called micromotion, caused by the time-dependent electric field. The purpose of this work is to systematically understand the qualitative impact of micromotion on the Rydberg excitation spectrum, when the symmetry axes of the two electric fields do not coincide. Considering this scenario is not only important in the case of possible field misalignment, but becomes inevitable for Rydberg excitations in 2D and 3D ion crystals. We develop a minimal model describing a single trapped Rydberg ion, which we solve numerically via Floquet theory and analytically using a perturbative approach. We calculate the excitation spectra and analyze in which parameter regimes addressable and energetically isolated Rydberg lines persist, which are an important requirement for conducting coherent manipulations.