A Troubleshooting Framework for Trapping Ions

Practical knowledge about troubleshooting quantum processing unit (QPU) hardware remains largely undocumented and confined within individual labs, creating a barrier to cross-disciplinary collaboration and the engineering of scalable systems. This poster presents a structured troubleshooting framework for trapped-ion QPUs [1], [2], developed through hundreds of hours of hands-on experience. The framework categorizes failure modes across key ion trap subsystems-vacuum, electronics, optics, and imaging-and organizes them into a modular, decision-tree structure. Common failure modes are annotated with qualitative estimates of cost and operational risk, inspired by Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), providing actionable insights that help bridge the gap between experimental physicists and systems engineers. By improving diagnosability and maintainability of ion-trap hardware, the framework supports efforts to scale quantum computing platforms and build reliable quantum networks [3].