Quantum networking and vortex field experiments with Strontium ions

The strontium ion is an ideal candidate for medium-distance quantum networking due to an atomic transition at 1.1 μm, a wavelength compatible with existing fiber optic infrastructure. This transition eliminates the need for lossy photon conversion processes, allowing for direct remote entanglement on the kilometer scale. We discuss the design and assembly of a strontium trapped-ion system and report on current progress towards remote entanglement. The final qubit states in our photon-generation scheme lie in the D_3/2 level and differ by Δm_j = 2. We propose a scheme for driving this dipole-forbidden transition using a microwave vortex field, which carries a unit of orbital angular momentum in addition to the unit of photon spin. It will also allow us to make a first measurement of the ratio of E2 and M1 multipoles in this transition.