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This theoretical study dissects how laser phase noise at distinct timescales degrades fidelity in Mølmer-Sørensen trapped-ion gates, providing analytical error estimates crucial for scaling quantum processors. By deriving noise Hamiltonians for specific beam geometries, the work offers actionable insights for optimizing laser systems to suppress errors near motional modes and inverse gate times.
Influence of fast and slow laser phase noise on the fidelity of the M{\o}lmer-S{\o}rensen trapped-ion gate
arXiv:2609.26912v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: High-fidelity two-qubit entangling gates are essential for the realization of useful quantum algorithms on quantum processors. The M{\o}lmer-S{\o}rensen (MS) gate has become a common choice for trapped-ion quantum computing due to its resilience to ion temperature and its demonstrated record fidelities. However, the spectral impurity of the driving laser field impacts gate performance, with phase noise influencing the qubit dynamics through mechanisms operating on different timescales. In this work, we present a comprehensive theoretical analysis of laser phase noise in the MS gate, identifying two spectral ranges which influence the gate fidelity the most: "fast" noise at frequencies near the motional mode spectrum, and "slow" noise at frequencies on the order of the inverse gate time. We derive the noise Hamiltonians for two common laser beam geometries and obtain analytical expressions for the average gate error in terms of the laser noise power spectral density and gate parameters. For slowly varying noise spectra, we provide simplified error estimates. In addition, we validate our findings against previously published numerical simulations.
Abstract:High-fidelity two-qubit entangling gates are essential for the realization of useful quantum algorithms on quantum processors. The Mølmer-Sørensen (MS) gate has become a common choice for trapped-ion quantum computing due to its resilience to ion temperature and its demonstrated record fidelities. However, the spectral impurity of the driving laser field impacts gate performance, with phase noise influencing the qubit dynamics through mechanisms operating on different timescales. In this work, we present a comprehensive theoretical analysis of laser phase noise in the MS gate, identifying two spectral ranges which influence the gate fidelity the most: "fast" noise at frequencies near the motional mode spectrum, and "slow" noise at frequencies on the order of the inverse gate time. We derive the noise Hamiltonians for two common laser beam geometries and obtain analytical expressions for the average gate error in terms of the laser noise power spectral density and gate parameters. For slowly varying noise spectra, we provide simplified error estimates. In addition, we validate our findings against previously published numerical simulations.
arXiv:2609.26912 [quant-ph]
(or arXiv:2609.26912v1 [quant-ph] for this version)
https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2609.26912 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite
Quantum Rep. 2026, 8(3), 74
https://doi.org/10.3390/quantum8030074 Focus to learn more DOI(s) linking to related resources
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