This COST Action will strengthen the leading role of Europe in the field of ion trap related science and technologies by organising a Europe-wide, multidisciplinary joint effort to develop universal tools, technologies and theoretical methods for the trapping and manipulation of cold ions.
Moreover, the Action will not only facilitate the knowledge exchange between the research groups and provide high level of training but will also contribute to the European efforts to develop highly skilled professionals for academia and industry.
More specifically, our research and operational objectives are:
- Large-scale entanglement, with the goal to entangle more than 50 ions, enabling quantum systems with capabilities beyond classical computers;
- Robust atomic clocks based on trapped ions, which merge very high performances with a compact and transportable design;
- Development of micro-fabricated traps with reduced heating rates to facilitate integration and scalability, and prepare the ground for tomorrow’s quantum computers;
- Novel interrogation protocols for robust and decoherence-free applications;
- Creating quantum networks by coupling ions to other quantum systems;
- Advancing ion trap technology for commercialisation with socioeconomic partners;
- Promoting new applications of trapped ions in physics, chemistry, bio- and nano-sciences;
- Creating a database for computer codes to simulate the dynamics of trapped ions and their interactions with electromagnetic fields;
- Creating a database for a “universal” optimised tool kit for ion trap experiments including e.g. important details on materials (outgassing, UHV electronics, etc.).
- They are complemented by the following capacity-building objectives:
- Organise meeting and training activities for PhD students and Early Career Investigators (ECI) to facilitate fast research progress;
- Provide opportunities for knowledge and technology exchange between research groups of the Action, and between research groups and socioeconomic partners;
- Encourage transfer of know-how and emergence of new research projects through mobility (e.g., through STSMs);
- Bridging the disciplines of Physics, Metrology, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Information Technology and exploit the multi- and interdisciplinary potential of the community.