Molecular ions possess a miriad of internal states that make them both challenging to control but also pose them to be exciting candidates for quantum information platforms. Namely are the existence of electric dipole transititions in the RF and microwave regime that are non-existant in atomic species. These transitions are addressible without the need for lasers, which would allow for longer cohenence times of a qubit and offer an achitecture for scaling trapped ion quantum computers. To drive the transitions, the technique we refer to as EGGs (Electric-field Gradient Gates) is implemented, where the tones needed to drive the gates are applied directly to the ion trap's electrodes. The current work being done involves performing quantum logic spectroscopy on hydrogen chloride ions cotrapped with calcium ions in a closed cycle cryogenic system. 

Progress towards EGGs has also led to the development of a new platform for sensing electric fields using a single trapped ion over a wide frequency range. Typical quantum sensors have a narrow range they can sense over and are insensitive to the phase of the unknown signal. The technique we refer to QVSA (quantum signal vector analyzer) allows for ultrahigh phase-sensitve measurement that we've shown covers a range from 1MHz to 1GHz, a previously unprecedented span. An additional benefit to this technique is that it can easily be implemented in other preexisting ion trap experiments without significant modifications.

Comparison of QVSA to other quantum sensing techniques, illustrating its wideband application.

Fun Images

Pictures: Left, three calcium ions showing some fun motion. Center, EGGs ion irap on Grant's surfboard. Right, Clayton and Josh enjoying themselves at the AMO Dodger game outing.

Experiment Members

Hau Wu - Postdoc 

Grant Mitts - Graduate Student (grantmitts@physics.ucla.edu)

Clayton Ho - Gaduate Student 

Josh Rabinowitz - Graduate Student

Dylan Kawashiri - Undergrad Student

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Phone: 310-825-4714
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