Control over phonons shared between three trapped ions in a two-dimensional microtrap array

Two-dimensional arrays of ions trapped in individually addressable microtraps are promising systems for simulation. In such arrays, a single motional excitation in the array can be understood either as site-localized phonons with beamsplitter-like interactions or as shared non-local normal modes. By coherently controlling these excitations, one may be able to generate multipartite entangled states of the ions as well as study of many-body phenomena such as spin frustration and bosons evolving in synthetic magnetic fields. To realize a minimal such two-dimensional array, we have developed a surface-electrode ‘triangle trap.’ Operated at cryogenic temperatures, this device creates a triangular array of individual trapping sites spaced 30 µm apart with sufficient degrees of freedom to independently control the motional mode frequencies and orientations of an ion trapped in each potential. In this poster, we first discuss how we control the internal and motional states of individual ⁹Be⁺ ions in the array. We will then share recent results on coherent operations between adjacent ions in the array, including a demonstration of over 100 exchanges of a single phonon between ions achieved by tuning motional mode frequencies into resonance through control over individual site curvatures. Finally, we extend this control over the full array, demonstrating hybridization into shared motional modes as well as controlled reintroduction of a single phonon after cooling to the approximate motional ground state.