Geometry-resolved suppression of patch-potential heating in skeleton-electrode ion traps
Journal
New Journal of Physics
Journal Volume
28
Journal Issue
6
Start Page
064505
ISSN
1367-2630
Date Issued
2026-06-01
Author(s)
Abstract
We present a quantitative, geometry-resolved framework to evaluate the effects of patch-potential noise in realistic three-dimensional Paul-trap structures. As a concrete application, we analyze a skeleton-electrode architecture and compare its performance against a conventional blade trap under identical ion-to-electrode distances and matched confinement parameters. The skeleton geometry achieves a suppression of motional heating exceeding 50%, with heating rate ratios of (Formula presented) (Formula presented) for the axial mode and (Formula presented) (Formula presented) for the radial mode. Patch-by-patch heating maps reveal that over 99% of the noise contribution originates from electrode surfaces within 500 (Formula presented) (Formula presented) m of the ion. We identify that axial heating follows a non-monotonic profile, with dominant ‘hotspots’ located at an intermediate distance of approximately 110 (Formula presented) (Formula presented) m. This behavior is driven by the vectorial directionality of the electric-field components, which provide the strongest axial coupling at these intermediate regions. Guided by these maps, we demonstrate a proof-of-principle electrode reconfiguration where segmented gaps are aligned with identified hotspots. This strategy successfully reduces axial heating even when the total electrode surface area increases, confirming that the spatial distribution of noise coupling—rather than total conductor area—is the primary driver of motional heating. These findings establish geometry-guided design as a practical route to suppress heating in trapped-ion platform, and the proposed skeleton architecture is compatible with advanced fabrication techniques, including metal additive manufacturing.
Subjects
3D-printed ion traps
electric field noise
motional heating
patch potentials
RF paul traps
trapped-ion quantum computing
Publisher
IOP Publishing
Type
journal article