The development of scalable quantum information processing making use of ion qubits, entanglement and segmented ion traps where quantum registers are operated, see also the EU Flagship project
Making use of quantum effects such as entanglement of distant qubits, interfacing ion qubits and photons for quantum communication.
Quantum simulation and hybrid systemsCoulomb crystals allow for designing spin-spin interactions to simulate quantum magnetism, or to investigate non-equilibrium statistical mechanics.
Heat engines are devices which convert thermal energy into mechanical work and typically employ a huge number of particles. We work on the realization of such machines using only one single atom as working agent.
Rydberg excitations of trapped ions allow for novel design of interactions.
Single Ions source
Single ions are extracted from a trap, steered into a few nm-size spot and implanted to realize doping of solid state quantum devices, see e.g. the PRL 2019
Antimatter gravity / exotic matter spectrocscopy
Does Matter falls on earth exactly like antimatter would do? This fundamental question is still not answered experimentally. We address this question within the GBAR collaboration at CERN. Ion trap techniques are applied for investigating Thorium ions that features an isomer nuclear state, we join forces within the TACTICA collaboration