Source: National Natural Science Foundation of China 

Grant No: 91421111

Project: Experimental study the electric-field noise near the metal surface based on the trapped ions

Chief Specialist: Liang Chen

Abstract: Since electric-field noise and energy dissipation near surfaces and interfaces present challenges in many fields of science and technology, people have been looking for an effective way to studying the origin and physical mechanism of the noise. The ultracold ions can be a nanoscale prober for studying this noise. The ultracold ions are interfered significantly by the electrode surface noise with the decrease of the trap electrode size, and the quantum states of the trapped ions could be precisely manipulated and measured by lasers. This provides a brand-new way to study the surface electric field noise in a quantum fashion. The applicant's team has cooled the trapped ions down to the ground states, and achieved the manipulation and readout of the quantum states. Based on this fact, the project aims to experimentally investigate the electric field noise on the carried metal surface by the trapped-ion platform. The main work includes: Combining with the processing and measurement tools of the surface science, we study the physical mechanism of the electric field noise of the metal surfaces; By selecting different surface adsorptions, we investigate the thermal excitation processes of the surface states. This project works by combining the theoretical study with the experimental implementation, not only with the new physical system to scrutinize the surface noise, but also with in-depth study of the origin and the physical mechanisms of the surface noise by analyzing the experimental results.