Photonic-chip-based cooling for trapped-ion quantum computers significantly improves scalability and performance

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1112850

"no bulky, vibration-sensitive external lasers limiting quantum hardware growth... laser cooling has temperature floor (Doppler limit) leaving ions with too much vibrational energy, overcome using polarization-gradient cooling on-chip, utilizing interaction of 2 differently polarized light beams creating light vortex that stops ion vibration more effectively... chip has 1,000s ion-trapping sites, cooling levels 10X below Doppler limit reached in 100 ms, antennas/ waveguides emit/ route light creating stable optics"