  Physical systems must fulfill a number of conditions to qualify as useful
quantum bits (qubits) for quantum information processing, including ease of
manipulation, long decoherence times, and high fidelity readout operations.
Since these conditions are hard to satisfy with a single system, it may be
necessary to combine different degrees of freedom. Here we discuss a possible
system, based on electronic and nuclear spin degrees of freedom in trapped
ions. The nuclear spin yields long decoherence times, while the electronic
spin, in a magnetic field gradient, provides efficient manipulation, and the
optical transitions of the ions assure a selective and efficient initialization
and readout.
