A Room-Temperature Extreme High Vacuum System for Trapped-Ion Quantum Information Processing

Abstract:We present a room-temperature Extreme High Vacuum (XHV) system engineered to support the long-duration operation of a trapped-ion quantum processor. Background-gas collisions impose limitations on trapped-ion performance and scalability by interrupting algorithmic execution and, in some cases, ejecting ions from the trap. Using molecular-flow simulations, we optimize the chamber geometry, conductance pathways, and pumping configuration to maximize the effective pumping speed at the ion location. We perform high-temperature heat treatment of stainless steel vacuum components to achieve the desired outgassing rate, guided by quantitative relations of bulk diffusive processes, allowing us to reduce the $\mathrm{H_2}$ outgassing load to the $10^{-15}\,\mathrm{mbar\,l\,s^{-1}\,cm^{-2}}$ level. The final pressure in our chamber, measured by a hot cathode gauge, is $1.5\times10^{-12}\,\mathrm{mbar}$, corresponding to the gauge's measurement limit. We measure the local pressure at the ion location by observing collision-induced reordering events in a long ion chain of mixed-isotope Yb$^+$. From the observed reordering frequency, we extract the average interval between collisions to be $(1.9 \pm 0.1)\,\mathrm{hrs/ion}$. This corresponds to a local pressure of $(3.9 \pm 0.3)\times10^{-12}\,\mathrm{mbar}$ at the ion location, assuming that all collisions arise from background H$_2$ molecules at room temperature. Our demonstration extends the continuous operation time of a quantum processor while maintaining the simplicity of a room-temperature system that does not require cryogenic apparatus.

Updates to histogram (Fig. 4e.) and to distribution governing the probability of reorder (Eqn. 10). Updates to references

arXiv:2512.11794 [quant-ph]

(or arXiv:2512.11794v2 [quant-ph] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2512.11794 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite

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