Trapped Ion Quantum Computing with Microwaves

To this point, entanglement operations in trapped ion~qubits~have been predominantly~performed with lasers. However, this becomes problematic when scaling to large numbers of~qubits~due to the challenging engineering~required. The use of stable and easily controllable microwaves to drive entanglement gates can overcome this problem.~ We will present our work towards implementing multi-qubit~entanglement gates using microwaves in an experimental setup that produces a~static~magnetic field gradient of 24 T/m over an ion string. We will first present a scheme for preparing and manipulating~dressed-state~qubits~and~qutrits~that are highly~robust~to~decoherence~from~magnetic field fluctuations. We will~also~present our~work~experimentally~demonstrating motional sideband transitions and~Schr\"{o}dinger cat states using~microwaves in conjunction with~the~magnetic field~gradient, as well as~sideband cooling to the ground state of motion using~dressed-states. Furthermore, we will show our latest results in creating~microfabricated~ion trap chips~towards large scale~quantum computing and~simulation.~~