Optical engineering for trapped ion quantum computing

Quantum technologies have the potential to revolutionize sensing, communication, and computation. Trapped ion qubits provide unparalleled coherence and are a leading platform for current small-scale quantum technology demonstrations. Optical addressing of individual ions with low crosstalk enables high-fidelity single and multi-qubit gates, and ions trapped in the same potential naturally allow for all-to-all connectivity. However, demonstrations of trapped ion quantum information processing have not gone beyond tens of qubits. In this talk I will lay out the optical engineering hurdles facing large-scale trapped ion quantum information processing and discuss a path forward.