Control of Ions in Cryogenic Two-Dimensional Arrays for Quantum Simulation

Individual control over ions trapped in two-dimensional arrays allows for investigations of a variety of paradigmatic many-body Hamiltonians of interest to quantum computation and simulation. Yet, the challenge of building a device capable of single-ion quantum control not limited by motional decoherence or field noise means that no such array has been realized to date. In partnership with Sandia National Labs, we have developed a microfabricated surface-electrode trap operated at cryogenic temperatures to capture ions in a triangular array of individual confining potentials spaced 30 µm apart. The small inter-ion distance and independent control of each ion's trapping potential allows for tunable coupling of motional modes of the ions between sites during a given experimental run. We report on protocols to selectively address and read-out the state of an ion in a particular site in our trap, as well as recent results demonstrating inter-mode coupling and phonon exchange between ions in the array. These techniques may enable the use of this device as a quantum simulator to study Hamiltonians with arbitrary spin-spin couplings, as well as the use of motional excitations of the ion (phonons) as a resource for simulations of bosons in synthetic magnetic fields.