Reliable transport through a microfabricated X-junction surface-electrode ion trap

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We report the design, fabrication, and characterization of a microfabricated surface-electrode ion trap that supports controlled transport through the two-dimensional intersection of linear trapping zones arranged in a ninety-degree cross.

• The trap is fabricated with very-large-scalable-integration (VLSI) techniques which are compatible with scaling to a larger quantum information processor.
• The shape of the radio-frequency (RF) electrodes is optimized with a genetic algorithm to minimize axial pseudopotential barriers and to minimize ion heating during transport.
• Seventy-eight independent DC control electrodes enable fine control of the trapping potentials.