Addressed coherent manipulation of quantum bits encoded in strontium ions

In recent years, we have witnessed a significant growth in the field of quantum computing. Efforts on the experimental side are directed towards obtaining a fully-functional, large-scale quantum computer that obeys DiVincenzo's criteria, and the true capabilities of such a machine are not yet fully known. Similar to such a machine that can be programmed as wished, a quantum simulator can be initialised to solve quantum mechanical problems, by evolving and measuring the state of the qubits used. This is the framework in which this thesis project, at the Trapped Ion Quantum Technologies group at Stockholm University, takes place. The work concerns a quantum simulator based on a linear Paul trap, which confines 88Sr+ ions in a well-defined region of space. The goal is to design, simulate, and build an optical setup capable of addressing single ions with the 674 nm laser, and to perform single-qubit, multi-qubit and entangling operations on a few-qubit ion string.