Digital Predistortion of Optical Fields for Fast and High-Fidelity Entangling Gates in Trapped-Ion Qubits
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Abstract
High-fidelity quantum gates require precise classical control signals, yet the analog hardware delivering these signals introduces nonlinear distortions that degrade gate performance. We demonstrate digital predistortion of an acousto-optic modulator used to generate multi-tone entangling-gate waveforms in a trapped-ion processor based on $^{88}$Sr$^+$. By measuring and inverting the static nonlinear amplitude response of the modulator, we apply a feed-forward correction that extends its linear operating range and suppresses spurious intermodulation products. Spectral analysis of the gate beam shows 3--5 dB suppression of the dominant intermodulation tones, approximately doubling the usable diffraction efficiency at a $10^{-3}$ estimated gate-error threshold. Direct two-qubit Bell-state fidelity measurements confirm that predistortion consistently improves entangling-gate performance. The calibrate-and-invert methodology is device and platform agnostic, applicable to any nonlinear element in the classical control chain of a quantum processor.