Ablation Removal of Transport-Blocking Defects in Surface-Electrode Ion Traps

TL;DR

This paper presents a laser ablation method to quickly and reliably remove transport-blocking defects in surface-electrode ion traps, avoiding system venting and baking.

Contribution

The authors demonstrate a low-overhead, in situ defect-removal technique using a common pulsed laser, suitable for ion-shuttling experiments at various temperatures.

Findings

Near-unity shuttling success rates after ablation

Micromotion levels remain within acceptable limits

Technique enables rapid defect remediation without system downtime

Abstract

We demonstrate in situ removal of a transport-blocking defect on a surface-electrode ion trap device using a Q-switched Nd:YAG 532 nm pulsed ablation laser. This approach eliminates the need to vent and rebake the vacuum system, providing a low-overhead defect-remediation technique well suited for ion-shuttling architectures where system modifications typically incur substantial downtime - particularly in shuttling focussed experiments operating at temperatures that necessitate bakes. Additionally, the hardware used is readily available in many ion trap laboratories, making this solution attractive to experiments operating in such regimes. Following ablation, we observe near-unity shuttling success rates across the previously obstructed region and measure micromotion levels that remain within acceptable limits. This technique enables rapid, reliable restoration of transport pathways without interruption to experimental operation.