noisy surfaces

Surface Sensing

Trapped ions are extremely sensitive to electric-fields. Surface ion traps, or chip traps, have electric-field noise above expected Johnson noise that heats the ion in the trap. This heating limits chain length, necessitates sympathetic cooling, and makes dielectrics nearly impossible to integrate. Noise studies have shown a strong scaling with distance to the surface and frequency, with accompanying complex temperature dependencies. In the Noel lab, we aim to not only add to our limited understanding of the physical noise mechanisms, but also develop techniques for quantum electric-field sensing.