We study the excitation dynamics of an inhomogeneously broadened spin ensemble coupled to a single cavity mode. The collective excitations of the spin ensemble can be described in terms of generalized spin waves and, in the absence of the cavity, the
free evolution of the spin ensemble can be described as a drift in the wave number without dispersion. In this article we show that the dynamics in the presence of coupling to the cavity mode can be described solely by a modified time evolution of the wave numbers. In particular, we show that collective excitations with a well- defined wave number pass without dispersion from negative to positive valued wave numbers without populating the zero wave number spin wave mode. The results are relevant for multi-mode collective quantum memories where qubits are encoded in different spin waves.
We investigate the possible form of ideal intersections for two-dimensional rf trap networks suitable for quantum information processing with trapped ions. We show that the lowest order multipole component of the rf field that can contribute to an id
eal intersection is a hexapole term uniquely determined by the tangents of the intersecting paths. The corresponding ponderomotive potential does not provide any confinement perpendicular to the paths if these intersect at right angles, indicating that ideal right-angle X intersections are impossible to achieve with hexapole fields. Based on this result, we propose an implementation of an ideal oblique-X intersection using a three-dimensional electrode structure.
Surface-electrode (SE) rf traps are a promising approach to manufacturing complex ion-trap networks suitable for large-scale quantum information processing. In this paper we present analytical methods for modeling SE traps in the gapless plane approx
imation, and apply these methods to two particular classes of SE traps. For the SE ring trap we derive analytical expressions for the trap geometry and strength, and also calculate the depth in the absence of control fields. For translationally symmetric multipole configurations (analogs of the linear Paul trap), we derive analytical expressions for electrode geometry and strength. Further, we provide arbitrarily good approximations of the trap depth in the absence of static fields and identify the requirements for obtaining maximal depth. Lastly, we show that the depth of SE multipoles can be greatly influenced by control fields.
