Makayla Hu Rose Hills
Continuous Wave Laser Oven for Loading Calcium Electrons
There are many different options for quantum computing platforms or qubits, including but not limited to trapped ions, neutral atoms, and supercomputing. We want to implement a qubit encoded within the spin states of a free electron trapped in a Paul trap (oscillating quadrupole electric field). An electron qubit has the advantages of fast gate times, which result from the small mass of a singular electron, and not needing lasers to run computations. However, the lack of optical transitions means that the electron cannot be laser cooled like ions and neutral atoms. Instead, the electron is cooled resistively, which requires the milli-Kelvin temperatures of a Helium-3 cryostat.
To load the electron trap, we align a calcium atom beam to the trap center, where the atom is ionized and the electron is trapped. We currently use a resistively heated oven that dissipates 20mW of power to create the calcium beam. This excess power heats up the base temperature accessible in the cryostat. Thus, I am designing and optimizing a continuous wave laser powered oven, thermally insulating the oven from the environment and minimizing the effect of the oven on the cryo environment.
Message To Sponsor
Thank you for your financial support, allowing me to focus on this project during the summer. Your support means a lot to me and I am really excited to work on engineering this much needed part of the electron spin qubit project. One again, I am beyond grateful for this opportunity, so thank you!