Quantum computers, much like their classical counterparts, will likely benefit from flexible qubit encodings that can be matched to different tasks. For trapped ion quantum processors, a common way to access multiple encodings is to use multiple, co-trapped atomic species. Here, we outline an alternative approach that allows flexible encoding capabilities in single-species systems through the use of long-lived metastable states as an effective, programmable second species. We describe the set of additional trapped ion primitives needed to enable this protocol and show that they are compatible with large-scale systems that are already in operation.
@article{arxiv.2109.01272,
title = {$\textit{omg}$ Blueprint for trapped ion quantum computing with metastable states},
author = {D. T. C. Allcock and W. C. Campbell and J. Chiaverini and I. L. Chuang and E. R. Hudson and I. D. Moore and A. Ransford and C. Roman and J. M. Sage and D. J. Wineland},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2109.01272},
year = {2021}
}