Efficient cooling of ion chains for quantum computation

A quantum information processing (QIP) system for cooling of an ion chain having multiple ions, comprising:

• one or more optical sources configured to generate a sideband cooling laser beam for each ion in the ion chain;
• a beam controller configured to concurrently cool two or more motional modes associated with the ions in the ion chain using the respective sideband cooling laser beam until each of the two or more motional modes reaches a motional ground state;
• and
• an algorithms component configured to perform a quantum computation using the ion chain after the two or more motional modes have reached the motional ground state.

A quantum information processing (QIP) apparatus for cooling of an ion chain having multiple ions, comprising:

• means for generating a sideband cooling laser beam for each ion in the ion chain;
• means for concurrently cooling two or more motional modes associated with the ions in the ion chain using the respective sideband cooling laser beam until each of the two or more motional modes reaches a motional ground state;
• and
• means for performing a quantum computation using the ion chain after the two or more motional modes have reached the motional ground state.

A computer-readable storage medium storing code with instructions executable by a processor for cooling of an ion chain having multiple ions, comprising:

• code for generating a sideband cooling laser beam for each ion in the ion chain;
• code for concurrently cooling two or more motional modes associated with the ions in the ion chain using the respective sideband cooling laser beam until each of the two or more motional modes reaches a motional ground state;
• and
• code for performing a quantum computation using the ion chain after the two or more motional modes have reached the motional ground state.