Design and fabrication of a micro-ion trap with a 3D-printed loading zone for improved hot-ion capture

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel 3D-printed micro-ion trap with a dedicated loading zone, improving hot-ion capture efficiency and facilitating laser cooling, with potential applications in quantum computing architectures.

Contribution

The authors designed and fabricated a 3D-printed ion trap featuring a separate loading zone, demonstrating improved hot-ion capture and discussing manufacturability and potential quantum computing integration.

Findings

Simulations show high trapped ion fraction across various parameters.

Successful 3D-printing of the trap's rf rails demonstrates manufacturability.

The design may outperform planar traps in hot-ion loading scenarios.

Abstract

We leverage recent advances in 3D-printing technology to design and fabricate a micro-ion trap with a spatially distinct loading zone for more efficient loading of ions from effusive thermal ovens. The design reduces the Mathieu-$q$ parameter in the loading zone by increasing the ion-electrode separation $r_0$, thereby potentially facilitating more effective laser cooling of hot ions. This circumvents the temporary thermal instability that arises when the rf potential is reduced during ion loading, a common practice to enable efficient laser cooling of hot ions. Simulations predict that expanding $r_0$ maintains a high trapped ion fraction from a simulated thermal source across a wide range of Mathieu-$q$ parameters. We demonstrate the manufacturability of this design by 3D-printing the rf rails of a four-rod ion trap and discuss the limitations imposed by state-of-the-art additive manufacturing techniques. We briefly compare hot-ion capture in the three-dimensional design presented here with that in a representative planar trap, illustrating one instance in which the former may be better for loading. The article concludes with an outlook for how this design may be incorporated into a quantum-CCD architecture to enhance ion loading and reduce associated experimental overheads.