The Trapped ions and quantum information group at laboratoire Matériaux et phénomènes quantiques has an experimental activity dealing with laser-cooled atomic ions confined in electromagnetic traps (Paul traps). We develop two main research topics:
- The study of large ensembles of cold ions (Coulomb crystals) containing different species. In these systems Coulomb interaction allows for sympathetic cooling of atomic or molecular ions that are not in interaction with a cooling laser but have interesting features. For example, we exploited this system for spectroscopic measurements of isotope shift in Strontium Sr+.
- The design, fabrication and test of surface micro traps, one of the most promising systems in the prospect of constructing a quantum computer. In particular, we study and address the anomalous heating phenomenon related to deep miniaturization of surface traps. These devices give the opportunity to realize single ion precision spectroscopy and have the unique capability of addressing hyperfine transition in the resolved sideband regime using near-field microwaves generated on the chip.