National Quantum Computing Centre Gets Ion Trap From NPL
National Quantum Computing Centre
UK quantum technology development is led by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and the National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC). The NPL and NQCC collaborated on a microfabricated ion trap transfer in July 2025. A cooperation in mid-2023 led to this transfer in March 2025, with £250,000 from the Government Office for Technology Transfer. This program is crucial to UK quantum computing development.
NPL Microtrap: Mature Research Platform
After approximately 20 years of development by NPL, the ion microtrap is a well-characterized research platform for trapped ion system advancements. This computer chip-sized device is the result of intensive ingenuity and meticulous engineering.
The microtrap's construction was tricky. Alastair Sinclair, Principal Scientist in NPL's microtraps division, says standard microfabrication processes work for two-dimensional microstructures. NPL had to alter these approaches in innovative ways to create a microscale three-dimensional structure with the needed precision and complexity. The tedious process often requires coordination with fabrication experts like Kelvin Nanotechnology Ltd.
Created microtraps are placed in vacuum chambers and attached to mirror and laser systems. Vacuum allows ion control and manipulation because particles cannot affect the delicate quantum system. A confined normal atom loses one electron to a laser beam, forming a positively charged ion. The trap's carefully placed electrodes create an electric field that levitates the ion in three dimensions. After cooling to extremely low energies, these ions can be monitored, altered, or entangled in a string to connect their states.
Quantum computing basics and ion traps
Trapped ions store and process quantum information, making them perfect for quantum computing. Qubits underpin quantum computing. Unlike conventional bits, qubits, especially those made of specific ion energy levels, can be both 0 and 1. Lasers can control an ion in a trap into a superposition, preserving quantum coherence and allowing it to represent several possibilities. Due of this, quantum computers can do many calculations.
Strings of ions entangled simplify qubit connection calculations rather than states. Quantum computers can simulate chemical events, break sophisticated encryption algorithms, and improve global supply chains. Ion traps may enable functional quantum processors.
Transfer, NQCC Research Focus
Physically moving the NPL microtrap to the NQCC required care. To ensure connectivity with the NQCC's infrastructure, NPL finished packaging and connected optical and electrical equipment. NPL laboratories tested extensively before shipping. Knowledge transfer, including two secondments to instruct the NQCC Ion Trap team, was crucial. After being transported and installed at the NQCC, the system was tested and captured its first ions on March 28, 2025. This validated the system's operation and collaborative efficiency, creating a robust research climate.
The NQCC uses the ion trap to study trapped ion systems. Initial research focusses on storing many qubits in a strontium atom. Strontium was chosen for its three unique atomic-level properties that can be exploited to make a qubit. The NQCC is investigating how these strategies might improve quantum algorithms and open up new computational paths for quantum computing applications.
This exploration of multidimensional qubit representation addresses one of the biggest scaling challenges in quantum computers: increasing qubits while maintaining control and coherence. The NQCC optimises atom information to reduce the complexity and physical footprint of future quantum processors. The NPL microtrap's successful integration provides a critical foundation for proving trapped ion quantum computing theoretical advances, narrowing the gap between theory and practice.
Cooperation and Future
The ultimate goal is to make the ion trap a versatile quantum computation tool. This would assist UK quantum technology capabilities and foster innovation across a variety of quantum computing-dependent fields by providing academic and industry partners with a resource to test and refine their quantum algorithms. The NPL-NQCC partnership structure ensures that the device continues at the forefront of technical innovation, adapting to new opportunities and challenges.
The two institutions' complementing knowledge makes this cooperation work. With its precision engineering and deep understanding of ion trap physics, NPL supports innovation. However, NQCC's focus on applying research and its broader industrial partner network will speed quantum solution development and deployment. The UK's fast-growing quantum ecosystem should benefit from this synergy.
Dr. Cameron Deans, head of the NQCC's Trapped-Ion Quantum Computing Team, stressed that the NPL microtrap represents a complex research platform, not just hardware. Due to maturity, researchers may focus on pushing quantum processing rather than fixing simple hardware difficulties, lowering research timeframes and reducing the dangers of unproven technologies. Alastair Sinclair added that NPL's expertise in quantum fundamentals and the ion trap system allows it to cooperate with NQCC to maximise ion traps' quantum computing potential.
Beyond improving individual qubits, the NQCC wants to study new architectures for integrating several ion traps to create scalable quantum processors that can solve increasingly difficult problems. Because of its stability and characterisation, the NPL microtrap is perfect for evaluating new architectural paradigms. This partnership exhibits UK quantum leadership commitment.
