J. Labaziewicz

A scalable, multiplexed ion trap for quantum information processing is fabricated and tested. The trap design and fabrication process are optimized for scalability to small trap size and large numbers of interconnected traps, and for integration of control electronics and optics. Multiple traps with similar designs are tested with Cd+, Mg+, and Sr+ ions at room temperature and with Sr+ at 6 K, with respective ion lifetimes of 90 s, 300 +/- 30 s, 56 +/- 6 s, and 4.5 +/- 1.1 hours. The motional heating rate for Mg+ at room temperature and a trap frequency of 1.6 MHz is measured to be 7 +/- 3 quanta per millisecond. For Sr+ at 6 K and 540 kHz the heating rate is measured to be 220 +/- 30 quanta per second.

We present two simple cryogenic RF ion trap systems in which cryogenic temperatures and ultra high vacuum pressures can be reached in as little as 12 hours. The ion traps are operated either in a liquid helium bath cryostat or in a low vibration closed cycle cryostat. The fast turn around time and availability of buffer gas cooling made the systems ideal for testing surface-electrode ion traps. The vibration amplitude of the closed cycled cryostat was found to be below 106 nm. We evaluated the systems by loading surface-electrode ion traps with $^{88}$Sr$^+$ ions using laser ablation, which is compatible with the cryogenic environment. Using Doppler cooling we observed small ion crystals in which optically resolved ions have a trapped lifetime over 2500 minutes.