Multi-zone ion trap for Q20:20 node

Opportunities for collaboration with partners: NPL or Sussex
Facilities: New lab currently being refurbished, to be completed by summer 2016. This lab is adjacent to existing ion trap labs, enabling efficient sharing of resources (e.g. laser sources), reducing time to set up new lab. New clean room for assembly of microfab traps and UHV systems to be completed by Easter 2016.
Training: Oxford graduate classes in QIP and Q.Tech, lab supervision and support by experienced PDRAs.
Description: An essential requirement for the Q20:20 device is an ion trap node with several trapping zones (at least 2 zones), incorporating the ability to shuttle ions between zones with high reliability (<0.01% error). We will need to be able to split and recombine small strings of up to 5 ions, consisting of mixed species (Ca-43 and Sr-88 ions). We plan to use either NPL silicon traps (if the measured performance is sufficient), gold-on-alumina wafer traps, or microfabricated surface traps. A cryogenic (70K or 4K) vacuum system may be required to prevent ion loss or decrystallization, hence the design will be compatible with the cryogenic system under development in the adjacent lab. An important task will be to calculate waveforms necessary for splitting, shuttling and recombining ion strings, and implement these using fast DACs to control electrode voltages. These will then be applied in the lab and refined by testing in the multi-zone trap.