Spectroscopy of a Synthetic Trapped Ion Qubit

Abstract

^{133}Ba^{+} has been identified as an attractive ion for quantum information processing due to the unique combination of its spin-1/2 nucleus and visible wavelength electronic transitions. Using a microgram source of radioactive material, we trap and laser cool the synthetic A=133 radioisotope of barium II in a radio-frequency ion trap. Using the same, single trapped atom, we measure the isotope shifts and hyperfine structure of the 6^{2}P_{1/2}↔6^{2}S_{1/2} and 6^{2}P_{1/2}↔5^{2}D_{3/2} electronic transitions that are needed for laser cooling, state preparation, and state detection of the clock-state hyperfine and optical qubits. We also report the 6^{2}P_{1/2}↔5^{2}D_{3/2} electronic transition isotope shift for the rare A=130 and 132 barium nuclides, completing the spectroscopic characterization necessary for laser cooling all long-lived barium II isotopes.