Trapped Ions: Pioneering the Future of Quantum Technologies

Recently, I read about the advancements in trapped ion quantum entanglement. Generally, trapped ions were tested for entanglement in the same laboratory. However, researchers have entangled two ions over a distance of 230 meters. The nodes of this network were placed in two laboratories at the Campus Technik to the west of Innsbruck, Austria. This experiment shows that trapped ions are a promising platform for future quantum networks that span cities and eventually continents.

As we know, trapped ions are one of the leading systems for building quantum computers and other quantum technologies. Trapped atomic ions are one of the most promising platforms for realising a useful quantum computer. They exhibit all properties necessary for building such a system and have very few fundamental limitations to the achievable gate fidelity. The single- and two-qubit gate fidelities demonstrated in small-scale systems, combined with the ions’ long coherence times, exceed the capabilities of any other proposed architecture.

Experiment on trapped ions Quantum entanglement

The two quantum systems were set up in two laboratories, one in the building that houses the Department of Experimental Physics and one in the building that houses the Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Until now, trapped ions were only entangled with each other over a few metres in the same laboratory. Those results were also achieved using shared control systems and photons (light particles) with wavelengths that aren’t suitable for travelling over much longer distances.

It’s good news for the quantum advancements in quantum computing, simulation, and communications. If scientists succeed in entangling long distance nodes, we can expect miracles in quantum communication.

Journal Reference:

V. Krutyanskiy, M. Galli, V. Krcmarsky, S. Baier, D. A. Fioretto, Y. Pu, A. Mazloom, P. Sekatski, M. Canteri, M. Teller, J. Schupp, J. Bate, M. Meraner, N. Sangouard, B. P. Lanyon, T. E. Northup. Entanglement of Trapped-Ion Qubits Separated by 230 Meters. Physical Review Letters, 2023; 130 (5) DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.050803