Surface-electrode architecture for ion-trap quantum information processing

We investigate a surface-mounted electrode geometry for miniature linear radio frequencyPaul ion traps. The electrodes reside in a single plane on a substrate, and the pseudopotentialminimum of the trap is located above the substrate at a distance on the orderof the electrodes' lateral extent or separation. This architecture provides the possibilityto apply standard microfabrication principles to the construction of multiplexed iontraps, which may be of particular importance in light of recent proposals for large-scalequantum computation based on individual trapped ions.