A Cryogenic Digital-to-Analog Converter for Trapped-Ion Quantum Computing

This work presents a $\Delta \Sigma$-modulated switched-capacitor Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC) in a 130 nm BCD technology that generates precise control voltages for ion traps at very low temperatures down to 13 K. The architecture serves the needs of future trapped-ion quantum computers, which could integrate many such DACs to move ions during quantum gate operations. An offset-cancellation scheme removes the need for per-channel calibration. The low power consumption of 1.5 mW avoids excessive self-heating. To my knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a $\Delta \Sigma$ DAC operating at these low temperatures.