Remote Entanglement of Cavity-Coupled Trapped Ions
Abstract: Entanglement-based quantum networks hold out the promise of new capabilities for secure communication, distributed quantum computing, and interconnected quantum sensors. However, only a handful of elementary quantum networks have been realized to date. I will present recent results from our prototype network, in which two calcium ions are entangled with one another over a distance of 500 m, via an optical fiber channel linking two buildings. The ion-ion entanglement is based on ion-photon entanglement mediated by coherent Raman processes in optical cavities. I will discuss the advantages of trapped ions for quantum networks and the role that cavities can play as quantum interfaces between light and matter at network nodes. After examining the key metrics for remote entanglement, we will consider how this work may be extended to more complex protocols.
Brief bio: Tracy Northup is a professor of experimental physics at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. Her research explores quantum interfaces between light and matter, focusing on trapped-ion and cavity-based interfaces for quantum networks and quantum optomechanics. She received her PhD from the California Institute of Technology in 2008 and then held an appointment as a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Innsbruck, where she was the recipient of a Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship and an Elise Richter Fellowship. She became an assistant professor at the University of Innsbruck in 2015 and has been a full professor since 2017; she held an Ingeborg Hochmair Professorship from 2017 to 2022. In 2016, she received the START Prize, the highest Austrian award for young scientists, from the Austrian Science Fund.
