title: 100-fold reduction of electric-field noise in an ion trap cleaned with in situ argon-ion-beam bombardment.
abstract: Motional heating of trapped atomic ions is a major obstacle to their use as quantum bits in a scalable quantum computer. The detailed physical origin of this heating is not well understood, but experimental evidence suggests that it is caused by electric-field noise emanating from the surface of the trap electrodes. In this study, we have investigated the role of adsorbates on the electrodes by identifying contaminant overlayers, implementing an in situ argon-ion-beam cleaning treatment, and measuring ion heating rates before and after treating the trap electrodes' surfaces. We find a 100-fold reduction in heating rate after treatment. The experiments described here are sensitive to low levels of electric-field noise in the MHz frequency range. Therefore, this approach could become a useful tool in surface science that complements established techniques.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Standards and Technology, 325 Broadway, Boulder, Colorado 80305, USA.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Hite
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Colombe
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: K R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Warring
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jördens
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Jost
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: McKay
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Pappas
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Leibfried
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Wineland