Planar Penning Traps for Single Trapped Electrons: Quantum Metrology and the "Gaussian Quantum Illumination" Protocol in the Microwave DomainONLINE ONLY

At the University of Sussex we have developed a novel planar Penning trap. This results from the projection of the well-known cylindrical Penning trap onto a flat surface and preserves the axial symmetry of the original cylindrical trap. We have also developed a planar magnetic field source, consisting of a set of several concentric currents. The values of the currents can be precisely tuned and a homogenous magnetic field can be produced at the position of the trapped particles. The planar trap and magnetic field have been developed for applications in quantum technology. Specifically, a trapped electron is a quantum transducer of microwave radiation and can be used to implement efficiently the “Gaussian Quantum Illumination” protocol in the microwave domain. This quantum metrology technique might enable microwave measurements with unprecedented sensitivity and resolution, with applications in microwave microscopy, microwave imaging and quantum radar. In this talk I will present the technology, will give an overview of the status of the experiment and the future.