Combs and isotopic customization for trapped ion quantum computing (Prof. W. Campbell)

Date: Jun 12, 2018
Time: 02:30 PM - 03:30 PM (Local Time Germany)
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Wesley C. Campbell
UCLA Physics and Astronomy, University of California Los Angeles, USA
Room: New Lecture Hall, Room B 0.32
Host: MPQ

Since ions bind their valence electrons tightly, the light needed to work with them is often in the UV part of the spectrum, where laser light is difficult to produce and manage.

We have pursued two avenues in an attempt to address this problem. First, we will discuss how optical frequency combs may be employed to ease the creation of short-wavelength light. We find that, when illuminated by a comb, trapped ions can behave as a phonon laser whose gain saturation protects them from being boiled out of the trap by the hundreds of blue-detuned comb teeth present. Second, in collaboration with Eric Hudson's group at UCLA, we describe work with barium ions, the species with the longest-wavelength transitions among the obvious choices. We discuss why creating a particular radioactive isotope endows Ba+ with the atomic structure advantages of more-difficult species and position it as a flexible, easy to use, all purpose qubit.