Ion microtraps with in-situ cleaning and integrated passive and active optical pathways

We will design, fabricate, and characterize an ion microtrap equipped with an integrated in-situ cleaning capability and with integrated optical access ports. The trap will be made of optical quality fused silica. The trap design and the fabrication process will allow for future developments, such as the addition of an integrated oven, UHV-maintaining subsystem, and rapid trap exchange with interchangeable sockets. We will pursue two in-situ cleaning approaches. In a first approach, Argon-ions will be generated close to the trap and directed with fields onto the trap, where they will sputter away contaminants and impurities that generate electrical noises. In a second approach, we will heat the trap platform in a hydrogen atmosphere. The hydrogen will react with the electrode surface contaminants. Both approaches are compatible with optical accessing of the microtrap. We will also fabricate surface microtraps equipped with an unmatched optical accessing capability that provides collective addressing of the trapped ions, individual ion addressing, as well as efficient photon collection. We will provide means to route the optical signals into and out of the trapping region, as well as on and off the chip using optical fibers or waveguides that are not susceptible to misalignment.