Dahyun Yum

Single-qubit quantum memory exceeding ten-minute coherence time

A long-time quantum memory capable of storing and measuring quantum information at the single-qubit level is an essential ingredient for practical quantum computation and communication1,2. Currently, the coherence time of a single qubit is limited to less than 1 min, as demonstrated in trapped ion systems3–5, although much longer coherence times have been reported in ensembles of trapped ions6,7 and nuclear spins of ionized donors8,9. Here, we report the observation of a coherence time of over 10 min for a single qubit in a 171Yb+ ion sympathetically cooled by a 138Ba+ ion in the same Paul trap, which eliminates the problem of qubit-detection inefficiency from heating of the qubit ion10,11. We also apply a few thousand dynamical decoupling pulses to suppress ambient noise from magnetic-field fluctuations and phase noise from the local oscillator8,9,12–16. The long-time quantum memory of the single trapped ion qubit would be the essential component of scalable quantum computers1,17,18, quantum networks2,19,20 and quantum money21,22.The longest coherence time of a single qubit of more than ten minutes is observed in a 171Yb+ ion. After sympathetically cooling the 171Yb+ ion qubit with a 138Ba+ ion, noise from magnetic-field fluctuations and the local oscillator is suppressed by a dynamic decoupling scheme.

An ion trap of monolithic 3D structure for quantum information

We develop a three-dimensional (3D) monolithic ion trap that has advantages of both 3D geometry trap and surface trap. The characteristic properties are measured, i.e. the axial and radial trap frequency and heating rate. We successfully load Yb and Ba ions together in this trap. The hybrid ion trap will be used for quantum information experiment.