AFRL/RITQ - Trapped Ions

QUANTUM NETWORKING WITH TRAPPED IONS

AFRL’s trapped ion team investigates quantum mechanics and quantum information science with the long-term goal of constructing a quantum network made for processing and transmitting quantum information. Quantum networks can be used for a variety of tasks including secure communication, a network of clocks, phased sensor arrays, and large scale quantum information processing. The quantum bits in this lab are laser-cooled, trapped ions. Since trapped ions are pristine, identical atomic clocks, trapped ions are a leading contender for building large-scale quantum information systems.

Trapped ions naturally provide high quality memories for storing and retrieving quantum information. In addition, ions have two buses to connect the quantum bits together: their mutual electric repulsion (phonons) for intra-node information processing and emitted photons for inter-node information transmission.

To date, most trapped ion systems use the Coulomb force to entangle the ions that directly interact with each other. Our goal is to distribute entanglement between and within both homogenous (trapped ion) and heterogeneous (trapped ion, quantum photonic integrated circuits, superconducting qubits) quantum network nodes to explore quantum networking applications.

We have labs on AFRL's RI campus and in the Innovare Advancement Center.





CLICK HERE to visit our other quantum labs.

quantum trapped ions team

GOVERNMENT PERSONNEL

David Hucul — AFRL, Trapped Ion Group Lead
Zachary Smith — AFRL
Clayton Craft — AFRL
Garrett Percevault — AFRL

CONTRACTORS
Nick Barton — Murray Associates of Utica
Andrew Brownell — Murray Associates of Utica
Shashank Dharanibalan — Technergetics LLC
Dylan Heberle — Technergetics LLC
David Hummel — Booz Allen Hamilton
Mike Macalik —  Booz Allen Hamilton
Ben Maila — Technergetics LLC
Vedansh Nehra — Technergetics LLC
Nikola Porto — Technergetics LLC

AFFILIATED MEMBERS
Kathy-Anne Soderberg — AFRL, Senior Scientist for Quantum Science and Technology
 
REFERENCES AND USEFUL LINKS

PUBLICATIONS

2020
Application of a self-injection locked cyan laser for barium ion cooling and spectroscopy,” A.A. Savchenkov, J.E. Christensen, D. Hucul, W.C. Campbell, E.R. Hudson, S. Williams, and A.B. Matsko. Nature Sci. Rep 10, 16494 (2020).
High fidelity manipulation of a qubit enabled by a manufactured nucleus,” J.E. Christensen, D. Hucul, W.C. Campbell, and E.R. Hudson, npj Quan Inf 6, 35 (2020).

2018

Towards using trapped ions as memory nodes in a photon-mediated quantum network,” B. Tabakov, J. Bell, D.F. Bogorin, B. Bonenfant, P. Cook, L. Disney, T. Dolezal, J.P. O’Reilly, J. Phillips, K. Poole, L. Wessing, and K.-A. Brickman-Soderberg. Proc. SPIE 10660, Quantum Information Science, Sensing, and Computation X, 106600L (2018).

ALUMNI
Andrew Klug — Technical University of Munich
Ian Wildemann — Duke
Pramod Asagodu — Duke
Kenneth Scalzi — Purdue
Erin Clothier — United States Air Force Academy
Gunnar Gott — United States Air Force Academy
Curtis Pilny — AFRL
Matthew Huestis — General Dynamics Electric Boat
Felix Ribuot-Hirsch — Grad Student at Weizmann Institute 
Jeffrey Carvalho — Grad Student, University at Buffalo
Joseph Broz — Hughes Research Laboratory
Carson Woodford — AFRL Civilian
William Grant — Binghampton University
Capt James Williams — Military (USAF)
Paige Haas — Dressage Instructor
Justin Phillips — Grad Student at Berkeley (Physics)
Boyan Tabakov — AFOSR
Harris Rutbeck-Goldman — SRI Laboratory
Capt Kaitlin Poole — Physics Instructor, United States Air Force Academy
Daniela Bogorin — IBM T.J. Watson Quantum Research
Lt Nathan Woodford — Grad student at Utah State
Jameson O'Reilly — Post doc at University of Oregon
Nathan Amidon
Savannah Decker — Grad student at Dartmouth
Brandon Robinson
Brenna Nelson
Benjamin Bonenfant
Lt Lester Disney
Lt Jackson Bell

EMAIL US
iontrapping@afrl.af.mil

 

 
USAF/USSF logos