We are primarily an experimental research group, testing and developing ideas in quantum computing using microwave- and laser-manipulated trapped ions.
Trapped atomic ions are one of the most promising platforms for realising a useful quantum computer. They exhibit all properties necessary for building such a system and have very few fundamental limitations to the achievable gate fidelity. The single- and two-qubit gate fidelities demonstrated in small-scale systems, combined with the ions' long coherence times, exceed the capabilities of any other proposed architecture. However, to build a useful quantum simulator that outperforms current classical machines (and therefore achieve ‘quantum advantage’) the system size needs to be scaled up to at least a few tens of qubits without compromising the precision of the operations.
Ions also interface naturally with optical photons, enabling quantum networking. We work on photonically-networked ion traps, the development of microfabricated chip trap technology, and high-fidelity quantum logic operations. Our work forms one of the core areas of the UK's Quantum Computing and Simulation Hub, led by Oxford.
For more information, please see https://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/research/group/ion-trap-quantum-computing/research-areas
