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arXiv:2509.06537 · Physica Scripta

3D-printed components for electron-ion trapping: pre-experimental tests of functionality and ultra-high vacuum compatibility

Vineet Kumar, Niklas Vilhelm Lausti, Jiří Hajnyš, Ivan Hudák, David Motyčka, Adam Jelínek, Michal Hejduk

Published Nov 26, 2025• 1 citation
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Abstract We demonstrate the ultra-high vacuum compatibility of a microwave-driven electron trap and an atomic oven (for atomic beam generation) fabricated through 3D printing via Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF). The trap integrates into a coaxial microwave cavity, enabling stable, narrow-band, high-amplitude oscillations of the electric field at the electrodes. The design also supports simultaneous trapping of ions. The oven performs well in ultra-high vacuum (UHV) environments without significant outgassing. In addition to achieving the UHV regime for 3D-printed components, pressure variations and their potential impact on electron-ion trapping experiments were investigated over a month. Our results show that experiments with electrons photodetached from trapped and laser-cooled ions are feasible with the trap and oven manufactured by the L-PBF method. These findings establish a foundation for future experiments in microwave detection and the study of low-energy ion-electron interactions at room temperature.

DOI
10.1088/1402-4896/ae24bd

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Abstract We report validation tests of a calcium atomic-beam source fabricated via Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF). The surface quality and elemental composition of the printed component were quantitatively assessed, allowing us to establish reference parameters for reliable operation in an ultra-high-vacuum environment. Safe operating conditions of the atomic oven were determined through a combination of simulations and experimental measurements. The ability of the device to deliver an atomic beam to the main experimental region—the electron/ion trap—was verified using atomic fluorescence imaging. Fluorescence spectroscopy was further employed to characterize the beam divergence, yielding an emission-cone half-angle of approximately 19° for atoms near the beam axis. A current of atoms on the order of 10 8 s −1 was estimated in the electron-trapping region, which is more than sufficient for anticipated electron-trapping and ion-trapping experiments.
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We leverage recent advances in 3D-printing technology to design, simulate, and fabricate a micro-ion trap with a spatially distinct loading zone for more efficient loading of ions from effusive thermal ovens. The design reduces the Mathieu-q parameter in the loading zone by increasing the rf-null-to-electrode separation r0, thereby potentially facilitating more effective laser cooling of hot ions. This circumvents the temporary thermal instability that arises when the rf potential is reduced during ion loading, a common practice to enable efficient laser cooling of hot ions. Simulations predict that expanding r0 maintains a high trapped ion fraction from a simulated thermal source across a wide range of Mathieu-q parameters. We demonstrate the manufacturability of this design by 3D-printing the rf rails of a four-rod ion trap using the same material and processes used to fabricate a functioning ion trap. We briefly compare hot-ion capture in the three-dimensional design presented here with that in a representative planar trap, illustrating one instance in which the former may be better for loading. The article concludes with an outlook for how this design may be incorporated into a quantum-CCD architecture to enhance ion loading and reduce associated experimental overheads.
Abstract Recent advances in the understanding and control of quantum technologies, such as those based on cold atoms, have resulted in devices with extraordinary metrological performance. To realise this potential outside of a lab environment the size, weight and power consumption need to be reduced. Here we demonstrate the use of laser powder bed fusion, an additive manufacturing technique, as a production technique relevant to the manufacture of quantum sensors. As a demonstration we have constructed two key components using additive manufacturing, namely magnetic shielding and vacuum chambers. The initial prototypes for magnetic shields show shielding factors within a factor of 3 of conventional approaches. The vacuum demonstrator device shows that 3D-printed titanium structures are suitable for use as vacuum chambers, with the test system reaching base pressures of 5 ± 0.5 × 10−10 mbar. These demonstrations show considerable promise for the use of additive manufacturing for cold atom based quantum technologies, in future enabling improved integrated structures, allowing for the reduction in size, weight and assembly complexity.
We report a 3D-printed microwave-resonator Paul trap that operates at the GHz frequencies required for electron confinement while preserving an open geometry suitable for laser access and imaging ion Coulomb crystals. The resonator exhibits moderate quality factors of approximately 1000, enabling large confining electric-field amplitudes at low input power, and is in good agreement with finite-element-method (FEM) predictions despite manufacturing imperfections, which we experimentally characterize. The validated FEM model is then used to calculate the electromagnetic fields in the trapping region. These field distributions, together with surface-roughness measurements, are incorporated into a model of electron spin-qubit decoherence to estimate the coherence time. Our analysis predicts that electron spin-qubit coherence times on the order of 10 ms should be achievable under the assumption that motional heating is dominated by Johnson noise, making such systems relevant for quantum information processing. The method of obtaining the coherence time is applicable to any electron Paul trap.
A key element in the study of cold atoms, and their use in emerging quantum technologies, is trapping the atoms in an ultra-high vacuum (UHV) chamber. Many methods have been used to trap atoms including atom chips and magneto-optical traps (MOTs). However, the bulky apparatus, and current-carrying coils, used so far in most MOTs restrict the reduction of power and physical size, as required for quantum technology applications. The advent of 3D printing technology now offers a new route to making MOTs with current paths that can be freely shaped and shrunk to several centimetres, thereby helping to reduce the power consumption and simplify the production of the MOT itself. In this paper, we present designs for 3D printed MOTs and analyse their performance by using COMSOL simulations. We predict that the 3D-printed conductors can create magnetic fields with gradients around 15 G/cm and passing through zero, as required for atom trapping, with Joule heating as low as 0.2 W.