Dr Christopher Ballance

Abstract:

Quantum harmonic oscillators model phenomena from electromagnetic fields to molecular vibrations, with excitations represented by bosons such as photons or phonons. Linear interactions that create or annihilate single bosons generate coherent states of light or motion. Introducing higher-order nonlinear interactions produces richer quantum behaviour: second-order interactions enable squeezing, whereas higher-order interactions generate non-Gaussian states useful for continuous-variable quantum computation. However, such interactions are usually weak or require specialized hardware. Hybrid systems, where a linear interaction couples an oscillator to a spin, offer an alternative. Here we combine two spin-dependent linear bosonic interactions to implement up to fourth-order nonlinear bosonic interactions in a single trapped ion, focusing on generalized squeezing. We demonstrate and characterize squeezing, trisqueezing and quadsqueezing; reconstruct the Wigner functions of the resulting states; and achieve quadsqueezing over 100 times faster than conventional methods. The approach has no fundamental limit on the interaction order and applies to any platform supporting spin-dependent linear interactions.

Abstract:

Individual optical addressing in chains of trapped atomic ions requires the generation of many small, closely spaced beams with low cross-talk. Furthermore, implementing parallel operations necessitates phase, frequency, and amplitude control of each individual beam. Here, we present a scalable method for achieving all of these capabilities using a high-performance integrated photonic chip coupled to a network of optical fibre components. The chip design results in very low cross-talk between neighbouring channels even at the micrometre-scale spacing by implementing a very high refractive index contrast between the channel core and cladding. Furthermore, the photonic chip manufacturing procedure is highly flexible, allowing for the creation of devices with an arbitrary number of channels as well as non-uniform channel spacing at the chip output. We present the system used to integrate the chip within our ion trap apparatus and characterise the performance of the full individual addressing setup using a single trapped ion as a light-field sensor. Our measurements showed intensity cross-talk below ~10–3 across the chip, with minimum observed cross-talk as low as ~10–5.