Electric-field noise from thermally-activated fluctuators in a surface ion trap

• Published in: arXiv.org
• Main Authors: Noel, Crystal, Berlin-Udi, Maya, Matthiesen, Clemens, Yu, Jessica, Zhou, Yi, Lordi, Vincenzo, Häffner, Hartmut
• Format: Paper Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 04.06.2019
• Subjects: Electric fields; High temperature; Ions; Noise; Physics - Atomic Physics; Physics - Quantum Physics
• ISSN: 2331-8422
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.1809.05624

We probe electric-field noise near the metal surface of an ion trap chip in a previously unexplored high-temperature regime. We observe a non-trivial temperature dependence with the noise amplitude at 1-MHz frequency saturating around 500~K. Measurements of the noise spectrum reveal a \(1/f^{\alpha\approx1}\)-dependence and a small decrease in \(\alpha\) between low and high temperatures. This behavior can be explained by considering noise from a distribution of thermally-activated two-level fluctuators with activation energies between 0.35~eV and 0.65~eV. Processes in this energy range may be relevant to understanding electric-field noise in ion traps; for example defect motion in the solid state and surface adsorbate binding energies. Studying these processes may aid in identifying the origin of excess electric-field noise in ion traps -- a major source of ion motional decoherence limiting the performance of surface traps as quantum devices.