Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure may include a method and/or a system for identifying an ion chain having a plurality of trapped ions, selecting at least two non-consecutive trapped ions in the ion chain for implementing a qubit, applying at least a first Raman beam to shuttle at least one neighbor ion of the at least two non-consecutive trapped ions from a ground state to a metastable state, and applying at least a second Raman beam to one or more of the at least two non-consecutive trapped ions, after shuttling the at least one neighbor ion to the metastable state, to transition from a first manifold to a second manifold.