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arXiv:1505.06104 · Physical Review A

Fast and efficient transport of large ion clouds

Marius Romuald Kamsap, J. Pedregosa-Gutierrez, C. Champenois, Didier Guyomarc’h, M. Houssin, Martina Knoop

Published Oct 21, 2015• 13 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The manipulation of trapped charged particles by electric fields is an accurate, robust, and reliable technique for many applications or experiments in high-precision spectroscopy. The transfer of an ion sample between multiple traps allows the use of a tailored environment in quantum information, cold chemistry, or frequency metrology experiments. In this article, we experimentally study the transport of ion clouds of up to $80\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}000$ ions over a distance of 20 mm inside a linear radio-frequency trap. Ion transport is controlled by a transfer function, which is designed taking into account the local electric potentials. We observe that the ion response is very sensitive to the details of the description of the electric potential. Nevertheless, we show that fast transport---with a total duration of 100 $\ensuremath{\mu}s$---results in transport efficiencies attaining values higher than 90% of the ion number, even with large ion clouds. For clouds smaller than 2000 ions, a 100% transfer efficiency is observed. Transport induced heating, which depends on the transport duration, is also analyzed.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.92.043416

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The manipulation of trapped charged particles by electric fields is an accurate, robust, and reliable technique for many applications or experiments in high-precision spectroscopy. The transfer of an ion sample between multiple traps allows the use of a tailored environment in quantum information, cold chemistry, or frequency metrology experiments. In this article, we experimentally study the transport of ion clouds of up to 8000080\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}00080000 ions over a distance of 20 mm inside a linear radio-frequency trap. Ion transport is controlled by a transfer function, which is designed taking into account the local electric potentials. We observe that the ion response is very sensitive to the details of the description of the electric potential. Nevertheless, we show that fast transport---with a total duration of 100 \ensuremathμs\ensuremath{\mu}s\ensuremathμs---results in transport efficiencies attaining values higher than 90% of the ion number, even with large ion clouds. For clouds smaller than 2000 ions, a 100% transfer efficiency is observed. Transport induced heating, which depends on the transport duration, is also analyzed.
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Ion traps are fantastic tools to explore the world of electrons, atomic and molecular ions, or charged clusters, in the classical as well as in the quantum regime. Extremely long storage times allow probing even of single particles with very high precision. The mass selectivity of the trapping devices is exploited in many experiments, in particular for mass metrology. An overwhelming part of the experiments and ideas rely on the very high level of parameter control which is offered by the ion trap. Manipulation of individual ions and engineering of well defined quantum states are the fundamental techniques to take the experiments beyond existing frontiers and to unprecedented precision. This special issue presents state-of-the-art theory and experiments in a variety of tutorials, reviews and research papers. More than half of these contributions form a follow-up to the first workshop on Modern Applications of Trapped Ions held in Les Houches, France, in May 2008. A great number of topics is covered in atomic and molecular physics, with ion traps as a common tool. The variety of approaches is meant to make this digest a helpful resource to the whole ion trapping community. Among the contributions, four major – while still overlapping – domains can be identified. Novel ion trap design is the motor of future developments and applications. Spectacular progress has been made in the domain of quantum information processing, such as the realization of planar traps, which opens the way to large-scale quantum computation. In this issue, this enthralling subject is introduced by a tutorial and two review articles, completed by contributions on different experimental realizations. Precision measurements belong to a more traditional domain which nevertheless evolves at the forefront of research: metrology of frequencies and fundamental constants, measurements of g-factors or high-precision mass measurements are the foundations of atomic and molecular physics. The creation and investigation of cold molecular ions and clusters are among the fastest growing topics, leading to ultracold chemistry at the single-particle scale. The next edition of this meeting series will take the name of European Conference on Trapped Ions (ECTI) and will be held in the UK in 2010. We are looking forward to this event, which will offer the possibility to continue the fruitful interaction between research groups that employ ion traps in widely different contexts, and to take the next snapshot of this dynamic research area.
Ion traps are fantastic tools to explore the world of electrons, atomic and molecular ions, or charged clusters, in the classical as well as in the quantum regime. Extremely long storage times allow probing even of single particles with very high precision. The mass selectivity of the trapping devices is exploited in many experiments, in particular for mass metrology. An overwhelming part of the experiments and ideas rely on the very high level of parameter control which is offered by the ion trap. Manipulation of individual ions and engineering of well defined quantum states are the fundamental techniques to take the experiments beyond existing frontiers and to unprecedented precision. This special issue presents state-of-the-art theory and experiments in a variety of tutorials, reviews and research papers. More than half of these contributions form a follow-up to the first workshop on Modern Applications of Trapped Ions held in Les Houches, France, in May 2008. A great number of topics is covered in atomic and molecular physics, with ion traps as a common tool. The variety of approaches is meant to make this digest a helpful resource to the whole ion trapping community. Among the contributions, four major – while still overlapping – domains can be identified. Novel ion trap design is the motor of future developments and applications. Spectacular progress has been made in the domain of quantum information processing, such as the realization of planar traps, which opens the way to large-scale quantum computation. In this issue, this enthralling subject is introduced by a tutorial and two review articles, completed by contributions on different experimental realizations. Precision measurements belong to a more traditional domain which nevertheless evolves at the forefront of research: metrology of frequencies and fundamental constants, measurements of g-factors or high-precision mass measurements are the foundations of atomic and molecular physics. The creation and investigation of cold molecular ions and clusters are among the fastest growing topics, leading to ultracold chemistry at the single-particle scale. The next edition of this meeting series will take the name of European Conference on Trapped Ions (ECTI) and will be held in the UK in 2010. We are looking forward to this event, which will offer the possibility to continue the fruitful interaction between research groups that employ ion traps in widely different contexts, and to take the next snapshot of this dynamic research area.
The problem for molecular identification knows many solutions, which include mass spectrometers whose mass sensitivity depends on the performance of the detector involved. The purpose of this article is to show by means of molecular dynamics simulations how a laser-cooled ion cloud, confined in a linear radio-frequency trap, can reach the ultimate sensitivity providing the detection of individual charged heavy molecular ions. In our simulations, we model the laser-cooled Ca+ ions as two-level atoms, confined thanks to a set of constant and time oscillating electrical fields. A singly charged molecular ion with a mass of 106 amu is propelled through the ion cloud. The induced change in the fluorescence rate of the latter is used as the detection signal. We show that this signal is due to a significant temperature variation triggered by the Coulomb repulsion and amplified by the radio-frequency heating induced by the trap itself. We identify the optimum initial energy for the molecular ion to be detected, and furthermore, we characterize the performance of the detector for a large range of confinement voltages.