Creation and Characterization of Entanglement in Radial-2D Ion Crystals

One-dimensional ion chains in rf traps have seen remarkable success in engineering high-fidelity quantum gates and simulating 1D quantum spin systems.  A comparable ability to control and probe two-dimensional ion crystals in rf traps would significantly expand the class of systems accessible to quantum simulation. Coulomb crystals in the radial-2D phase have been established as a realistic platform for quantum simulation [1], and site-resolved imaging of large radial-2D crystals has been demonstrated for a blade-style rf trap [2]. An integral component of quantum simulation yet to be demonstrated for this platform is the creation and characterization of entangled states. Here, we present the first Mølmer-Sørensen (MS) interaction with radial-2D crystals. A global application of the MS interaction, an entangling mechanism native to trapped ion systems, allows for the creation of a wide variety of spin models. We describe our implementation of MS interactions and discuss progress in characterizing frustration and entanglement in small ion lattices. 

[1] D'Onofrio et al., PRL 127, 020503 (2021)

[2] Xie et al., Quantum Sci. Technol. 6, 044009 (2021)