Versatile ytterbium ion trap experiment for operation of scalable ion-trap chips with motional heating and transition-frequency measurements

Abstract

We present the design and operation of an ytterbium ion trap experiment with a setup offering versatile optical access and 90 electrical interconnects that can host advanced surface and multilayer ion trap chips mounted on chip carriers. We operate a macroscopic ion trap compatible with this chip carrier design and characterize its performance, demonstrating secular frequencies $>$1 MHz, and trap and cool nearly all of the stable isotopes, including $^{171}\mathrm{Yb}$${}^{+}$ ions, as well as ion crystals. For this particular trap we measure the motional heating rate $\ensuremath{\langle}\mathrm{n\ifmmode \dot{}\else \.{}\fi{}}\ensuremath{\rangle}$ and observe an $\ensuremath{\langle}\mathrm{n\ifmmode \dot{}\else \.{}\fi{}}\ensuremath{\rangle}\ensuremath{\propto}1/{\ensuremath{\omega}}^{2}$ behavior for different secular frequencies $\ensuremath{\omega}$. We also determine a spectral noise density ${S}_{E}(1 \mathrm{MHz})=3.6(9)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}11}$ ${\mathrm{V}}^{2}$ ${\mathrm{m}}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$ Hz${}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ at an ion electrode spacing of 310(10) $\ensuremath{\mu}$m. We describe the experimental setup for trapping and cooling Yb${}^{+}$ ions and provide frequency measurements of the ${}^{2}{S}_{1/2}{\ensuremath{\leftrightarrow}}^{2}$${P}_{1/2}$ and ${}^{2}{D}_{3/2}{\ensuremath{\leftrightarrow}}^{3}$$D[3/2]{}_{1/2}$ transitions for the stable $^{170}\mathrm{Yb}$${}^{+}$, $^{171}\mathrm{Yb}$${}^{+}$, $^{172}\mathrm{Yb}$${}^{+}$, $^{174}\mathrm{Yb}$${}^{+}$, and $^{176}\mathrm{Yb}$${}^{+}$ isotopes which are more precise than previously published work.