Compatibility of trapped ions and dielectrics at cryogenic temperatures

Abstract

We study the impact of an unshielded dielectric $\unicode{x2013}$ here, a bare optical fiber $\unicode{x2013}$ on a ${}^{40}$Ca${}^{+}$ ion held several hundred $\mu$m away in a cryogenic surface electrode trap. We observe distance-dependent stray electric fields of up to a few kV/m due to the dielectric, which drift on average less than 10% per month and can be fully compensated with reasonable voltages on the trap electrodes. We observe ion motional heating rates attributable to the dielectric of $\approx$30 quanta per second at an ion-fiber distance of 215(4) $\mu$m and $\approx$1.5 MHz motional frequency. These results demonstrate the viability of using unshielded, trap-integrated dielectric objects such as miniature optical cavities or other optical elements in cryogenic surface electrode ion traps.

MB and LS contributed equally to this work; Submitted 17 July 2025, accepted 29 January 2026, published 6 March 2026

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