Toolchain for shuttling trapped-ion qubits in segmented traps

TL;DR

This paper introduces a comprehensive numerical toolchain for designing and validating ion transport waveforms in complex segmented traps, enhancing scalability and precision in trapped-ion quantum computing.

Contribution

The authors develop a versatile, efficient framework that combines electrostatic modeling, optimization, and simulation to generate low-excitation ion shuttling protocols in arbitrary trap geometries.

Findings

Accurately predicts secular frequencies and ion trajectories.

Supports complex trap geometries including junctions.

Enables rapid prototyping of ion transport protocols.

Abstract

Scalable trapped-ion quantum computing requires fast and reliable transport of ions through complex, segmented radiofrequency trap architectures without inducing excessive motional excitation. We present a numerical toolchain for the systematic generation of time-dependent electrode voltages enabling fast, low-excitation ion shuttling in segmented radiofrequency traps. Based on a model of the trap electrode geometry, the framework combines an electrostatic field solver, efficient unconstrained optimization, waveform postprocessing, and dynamical simulations of ion motion to compute voltage waveforms that realize prescribed transport trajectories while respecting experimental constraints such as voltage limits and bandwidth. The toolchain supports arbitrary trap geometries, including junctions and multi-zone layouts, and allows for the flexible incorporation of optimization objectives. We provide a detailed assessment of the accuracy of the framework by investigating its numerical stability and by comparing measured and predicted secular frequencies. The framework is optimized for numerical performance, enabling rapid numerical prototyping of trap architectures of increasing complexity. As application examples, we apply the framework to the transport of a potential well along a linear, uniformly segmented trap, and we compute a solution for shuttling a potential well around the corner of an X-type trap junction. The presented approach provides an extensible and highly efficient numerical foundation for designing and validating transport protocols in current and next-generation trapped-ion processors.