  Electric field noise in proximity to metallic surfaces is a poorly understood
phenomenon that appears in different areas of physics. Trapped ion quantum
information processors are particular susceptible to this noise, leading to
motional decoherence which ultimately limits the fidelity of quantum
operations. On the other hand they present an ideal tool to study this effect,
opening new possibilities in surface science. In this work we analyze and
measure the polarization of the noise field in a micro-fabricated ion trap for
various noise sources. We find that technical noise sources and noise emanating
directly from the surface give rise to different degrees of polarization which
allows us to differentiate between the two noise sources. Based on this, we
demonstrate a method to infer the magnitude of surface noise in the presence of
technical noise.
