This is the home page of the Ion Trapping Group at Imperial College.

We are part of the HITRAP European Network which seeks to perform various experiments with trapped, highly charged atomic ions. Our role in this network is to perform laser spectroscopy of such ions to explore the fundamental properties of physics. The electrons in highly charged ions experience extremely large electric fields, behave relavistically, and can provide stringent tests of QED (Quantum Electro-Dynamics). A poster briefly explaining the HITRAP project can be download here.

At present we are also involved in exciting new experiments in the field of quantum information processing. We are the co-ordinating node of the EU-funded QGATES RTD network, a pan-European consortia dedicated to studying quantum information processing and laying the groundwork for building a quantum computer.

For a basic description of what ion traps are and how they work please go to the background section. More details of our latest projects are here. A poster concerning the scalability of ion traps for quantum computation can be downloaded here.

If you would like to read about past research that we have done then this is also available, and a list of publications can be found here.

Brief details of the present group members can be found here. And if you would like to join the group then any vacancies for staff or students can be found in the new positions section.

Finally, a list of links are provided should you wish to find out more detailed information about ion trapping or quantum information.

For more information, please contact or