Arrays of elliptical ion traps for parallel quantum computing

A new microscopic trap, the elliptical ion trap, can confine more than 10 3 ions with minimal micromotion, due to previously unrecognized properties of one-dimensional Coulomb crystals. Arrays of elliptical ion traps provide a physical model of a parallel quantum computer, consisting of thousands of microscopic Cirac-Zoller processors, each containing approximately 100 ions, maintained in entangled states by quantum optical interconnects. Physical properties of a trap array containing 4 x 10 6 qubits are derived.