Observation of superconductivity and surface noise using a single trapped ion as a field probe

K. Lakhmanskiy, P. C. Holz, D. Schärtl, B. Ames, R. Assouly, T. Monz, Y. Colombe, and R. Blatt
Phys. Rev. A 99, 023405 – Published 4 February 2019

Abstract

Measuring and understanding electric-field noise from bulk material and surfaces is important for many areas of physics. In this work, we demonstrate the probing of electric-field noise from different sources with an ion, 225μm above the trap surface. We detect noise levels as small as SE=5.2(11)×1016V2m2Hz1 at ωz=2π×1.51MHz and T=12K. Our setup incorporates a controllable noise source utilizing a high-temperature superconductor. This element allows us, first, to benchmark and validate the sensitivity of our probe. Second, it allows us to probe noninvasively the bulk properties of the superconductor, observing a superconducting transition with an ion. For temperatures below the transition, we use our setup to assess different surface noise processes. The measured surface noise shows a deviation from a power law in the frequency domain. However, the temperature scaling of the data is not in a good agreement with existing surface noise models. Our results open perspectives for models in surface science and pave the way to test them experimentally.

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  • Received 2 May 2018
  • Revised 20 July 2018

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.99.023405

©2019 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Atomic, Molecular & OpticalCondensed Matter, Materials & Applied PhysicsQuantum Information, Science & Technology

Authors & Affiliations

K. Lakhmanskiy1,*, P. C. Holz1,*, D. Schärtl1, B. Ames1, R. Assouly1, T. Monz1, Y. Colombe1, and R. Blatt1,2

  • 1Institut für Experimentalphysik, Universität Innsbruck, Technikerstrasse 25, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
  • 2Institut für Quantenoptik und Quanteninformation, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Technikerstr. 21 A, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria

  • *K.L. and P.C.H. contributed equally to this work.

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Vol. 99, Iss. 2 — February 2019

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