Bilayer crystals of trapped ions for quantum information processing: Quantum control and applications

Linear chains and single-plane crystals of trapped ions have been extensively explored for applications in quantum information. However, multilayer arrays of trapped ions have hitherto been challenging to realize and have received far less attention from the quantum information perspective. We recently demonstrated that ion crystals in Penning traps can be extended beyond a single-plane geometry to form clean bilayer structures. In this talk, we discuss the quantum control capabilities and potential applications of such bilayer trapped ion crystals in quantum information processing. We show that this system can be used to realize iconic spin models such as the Ising and spin-exchange models in a bilayer geometry. Furthermore, the geometry and normal modes allow for the possibility to tune the interlayer and intralayer interactions on-the-fly, as well as to engineer chiral spin-exchange interactions. We discuss the potential applications enabled by these capabilities in generating and detecting bipartite entanglement, in distributed and variational quantum sensing, as well as in the quantum simulation of models of orbital magnetism and spintronics. Our exploration of bilayer crystals indicate that they can potentially serve as a versatile platform for a range of quantum applications.