Narrow-linewidth transitions out of the metastable ²F^o_7/2 state in Yb⁺

A qubit defined on the zero-field hyperfine clock states of the effectively-stable ²F^o_7/2 manifold in ¹⁷¹Yb⁺ is a good candidate for the development of a metastable, 'm-type', qubit as outlined in the omg architecture. We have achieved single-qubit operations in the m-type qubit with a SPAM infidelity of 4_-2⁺³ x 10^-4 . Further, we present work toward coherent laser operations coupling the ²F^o_7/2 to higher-lying odd-parity states. The Yb⁺ ion is rich in metastable, high-J excited states directly accessible via ²F^o_7/2 that could be used for realizing two-qubit gates. We report the isotope shifts, hyperfine splittings and lifetimes of three previously-unobserved E2 transitions in Yb⁺. We will present future plans to utilize these states for two-qubit operations.