  Microfabricated Paul ion traps show tremendous promise for large-scale
quantum information processing. However, motional heating of ions can have a
detrimental effect on the fidelity of quantum logic operations in miniaturized,
scalable designs. In many experiments, contributions to ion heating due to
technical voltage noise present on the static (DC) and radio frequency (RF)
electrodes can be overlooked. We present a reliable method for determining the
extent to which motional heating is dominated by residual voltage noise on the
DC or RF electrodes. Also, we demonstrate that stray DC electric fields can
shift the ion position such that technical noise on the RF electrode can
significantly contribute to the motional heating rate. After minimizing the
pseudopotential gradient experienced by the ion induced by stray DC electric
fields, the motional heating due to RF technical noise can be significantly
reduced.
