Abstract
Quantum networking links quantum processors through remote entanglement for distributed quantum information processing and secure long-range communication. Trapped ions are a leading quantum information processing platform, having demonstrated universal small-scale processors and roadmaps for large-scale implementation. Overall rates of ion–photon entanglement generation, essential for remote trapped ion entanglement, are limited by coupling efficiency into single mode fibers and scaling to many ions. Here, we show a microfabricated trap with integrated diffractive mirrors that couples 4.1(6)% of the fluorescence from a 174Yb+ ion into a single mode fiber, nearly triple the demonstrated bulk optics efficiency. The integrated optic collects 5.8(8)% of the π transition fluorescence, images the ion with sub-wavelength resolution, and couples 71(5)% of the collected light into the fiber. Our technology is suitable for entangling multiple ions in parallel and overcomes mode quality limitations of existing integrated optical interconnects.
Highlights
A small chain of trapped ions, confined along the node of an oscillating electric field in a Paul trap, provides a well controlled quantum system that can be cooled to the quantum ground state and precisely manipulated with lasers and microwaves.[1–8] The ions are simultaneously strongly coupled to each other through the Coulomb force, and decoupled from the surrounding environment
Ion fluorescence plays two complementary roles in quantum information processing: state readout through the collection of multiple photons, and the creation of remote entanglement through entanglement swapping of photons coupled into single optical modes
We exploit the potential of diffractive optics and demonstrate a scalable photon–ion interface realised on a multi-zone micro-fabricated surface trap with integrated diffractive mirrors
Summary
A small chain of trapped ions, confined along the node of an oscillating electric field in a Paul trap, provides a well controlled quantum system that can be cooled to the quantum ground state and precisely manipulated with lasers and microwaves.[1–8] The ions are simultaneously strongly coupled to each other through the Coulomb force, and decoupled from the surrounding environment. Recent developments include implementation of the Shor factoring algorithm[12] and a programmable quantum computer module based on five ions.[13] In these experiments, the ions’ fluorescence was collected using complex multi-element bulk optics, which may be less suitable for scaling to massively parallel systems. A more scalable approach used reflected curved surface optics into microfabricated ion traps,[8] but the ion image quality of such system remains insufficient for good single mode coupling. For both local processing and remote networking, a scalable optical interface that can efficiently interface multiple ions with single mode guiding structures is necessary to achieve large, massively parallel implementations
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