High Fidelity State Preparation and Measurement of Ion Hyperfine Qubits with I>1/2.

We present a method for achieving high fidelity state preparation and measurement (SPAM) using trapped ion hyperfine qubits with nuclear spins higher than I=1/2. The ground states of these higher nuclear spin isotopes do not afford a simple frequency-selective state preparation scheme. We circumvent this limitation by stroboscopically driving strong and weak transitions, blending fast optical pumping using dipole transitions, and narrow microwave or optical quadrupole transitions. We demonstrate this method with the I=3/2 isotope ^{137}Ba^{+} to achieve a SPAM infidelity of (9.0±1.3)×10^{-5} (-40.5±0.6 dB), facilitating the use of a wider range of ion isotopes with favorable wavelengths and masses for quantum computation.

Modular cryostat for ion trapping with surface-electrode ion traps.

We present a simple cryostat purpose built for use with surface-electrode ion traps, designed around an affordable, large cooling power commercial pulse tube refrigerator. A modular vacuum enclosure with a single vacuum space facilitates interior access and enables rapid turnaround and flexibility for future modifications. Long rectangular windows provide nearly 360° of optical access in the plane of the ion trap, while a circular bottom window near the trap enables NA 0.4 light collection without the need for in-vacuum optics. We evaluate the system's mechanical and thermal characteristics and we quantify ion trapping performance by trapping (40)Ca(+), finding small stray electric fields, long ion lifetimes, and low ion heating rates.

Identifying single molecular ions by resolved sideband measurements.

The masses of single molecular ions are nondestructively measured by cotrapping the ion of interest with a laser-cooled atomic ion, (40)Ca(+). Measurement of the resolved sidebands of a dipole forbidden transition on the atomic ion reveals the normal-mode frequencies of the two ion system. The mass of two molecular ions, (40)CaH(+) and (40)Ca(16)O(+), are then determined from the normal-mode frequencies. Isotopes of Ca(+) are used to determine the effects of stray electric fields on the normal mode measurement. The future use of resolved sideband experiments for molecular spectroscopy is also discussed.