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Bulletin of the American Physical Society

A miniature linear RF ion trap

Jonathan Magnolia Gilligan, Christopher R. Monroe, David J. Wineland

Published May 1, 1993• 0 citations
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Abstract

We report on development of a miniature linear rf ion trap and preliminary efforts to trap and laser-cool {sup 24}Mg{sup +} ions. This trap has a radial dimension of 50 {mu}m, one tenth the size of our previous trap. The rms confinement of a trapped ion scales as R{sup -2}, where R is the trap radius, so tight confinement of ions is possible at a modest rf voltage. Although the three-dimensional trapping potential for our trap cannot be calculated analytically, it can be described in terms of dimensionless parameters, measured by studying macroscopic charged particles in a much larger model of the trap. We expect that with this trap it will be possible to achieve secular frequencies high enough for resolved-sideband cooling of light ions using allowed dipole transitions. This will make it much easier to perform experiments on the quantum motion of trapped ions. This trap uses a two-wire design rather than the more common four-wire one, so the trap electrodes occlude a much smaller solid angle than either a four-wire linear trap or the more common quadrupole trap. Thus, it will be possible to couple optical devices, such as high-finesse cavities, much more efficiently to trapped ions.

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•May 17, 2013•0 citations
We report on development of a miniature linear rf ion trap and preliminary efforts to trap and laser-cool {sup 24}Mg{sup +} ions. This trap has a radial dimension of 50 {mu}m, one tenth the size of our previous trap. The rms confinement of a trapped ion scales as R{sup -2}, where R is the trap radius, so tight confinement of ions is possible at a modest rf voltage. Although the three-dimensional trapping potential for our trap cannot be calculated analytically, it can be described in terms of dimensionless parameters, measured by studying macroscopic charged particles in a much larger model of the trap. We expect that with this trap it will be possible to achieve secular frequencies high enough for resolved-sideband cooling of light ions using allowed dipole transitions. This will make it much easier to perform experiments on the quantum motion of trapped ions. This trap uses a two-wire design rather than the more common four-wire one, so the trap electrodes occlude a much smaller solid angle than either a four-wire linear trap or the more common quadrupole trap. Thus, it will be possible to couple optical devices, such as high-finesse cavities, much more efficiently to trapped ions.
A cryogenic linear rf trap has been constructed to study the accuracy of a clock based on laser cooled /sup 199/Hg/sup +/. Crystals of tens of ions have been observed. The residual micromotion of the ions has been minimized and Ramsey interrogation periods of 25 s have been demonstrated for the 40.5 GHz transition. This system should eventually provide a frequency standard of high precision and accuracy. We report on the development of compact, efficient, solid-state sources at 194 nm and 282 nm for laser cooling of /sup 199/Hg/sup +/ and investigation of the /sup 2/S/sub 1/2//spl rarr//sup 2/D/sub 5/2/ quadrupole transition of interest for an optical frequency standard.
We demonstrate a linear radio-frequency trap for confining strontium ions that is simply constructed nearly entirely with commercial off-the-shelf components. The electrodes of this trap are spaced to allow tight radial confinement, and segmented to give tight axial confinement with minimal distortion of the radio-frequency field. The resulting secular frequencies of the trap are 1 MHz in the radial direction and 100 kHz in the axial direction, the ions can be imaged with 2–3 μm resolution, and we detect over 20 000 photons per second per ion. This article describes the construction of the vital parts of the trap system, the laser system and optics used to Doppler cool the ions and to observe quantum jumps, and the operation and behavior of the complete system.
An experimental study of sideband laser cooling of trapped ions in miniature radio-frequency traps is presented. In+{\mathrm{In}}^{+}In+ ions are laser cooled by exciting the narrow intercombination line ${5s}^{2}{}^{1}{S}_{0}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}5s5p{}^{3}{P}_{1}$, which shows resolved sidebands due to the vibrational motion of the ions in the trap. The influence of the micromotion at the frequency of the oscillating trapping field is investigated. Heating processes through coupling with the trapping field occur for certain regions of negative laser detuning. A method of bichromatic sideband cooling is introduced that combines efficient cooling from high temperatures with the possibility of reaching low mean vibrational quantum numbers 〈n〉<1〈n〉<1〈n〉<1 by using narrow optical transitions. This technique allows recording of high-resolution excitation spectra of the cooling transition in the Lamb-Dicke regime and thus determination of 〈n〉〈n〉〈n〉. Single ions as well as two-ion Coulomb crystals have been cooled to temperatures below $100 \ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{K}$, and population of the ground state of motion to more than 50% over long time scales is demonstrated. These values are close to the lower limit for the detection of vibrational excitation with the present method.
Trapping and cooling large numbers of ions, each confined to much less than an optical wavelength, is of great interest for high accuracy spectroscopy, improved frequency standards and atom-radiation field experiments. This can be achieved in a linear rf ion trap where the rf electric fields go to zero along a line rather than at only a point. As a step toward this goal we have constructed a linear trap and have observed simple crystallized linear structures of up to tens of 199Hg+ ions. By varying the axial well depth (determined by a static potential) we have also observed more complex crystallized structures. The ion positions in these structures are in close agreement with a calculation that used as input the measured secular frequencies of the trap. We have also observed the 40.5-GHz ground-state hyperfine transition of trapped 199Hg+ ions by microwave/optical double resonance.
We discuss a radio-frequency (rf) ion trap, the rotating-radio-frequency (rotating-rf) trap, in which the motion of a charged particle is described by trigonometric functions rather than the usual Mathieu functions of a normal rf trap. In the rotating-rf trap, a rotating quadrupole electric field confines charged particles, whereas in a normal rf trap, an oscillating quadrupole electric field does. Ion motion in a rotating-rf trap is a superposition of two nondegenerate circular secular motions and two corresponding circular micromotions. The cases of applying a uniform dc magnetic field or a quadrupole dc electric field in addition to the rotating-rf field are also discussed. Confinement in a rotating-rf trap can be tighter than in a normal linear rf trap with the same experimental parameter values.
The combination of an ion trap with a high finesse optical cavity is an ideal system for the investigation of strong coupling cavity quantum electrodynamics, and allows the observation of a number of interesting quantum phenomena. To achieve the small mode volumes required without impairing the ion trapping small traps with a short ion electrode distance are needed. Two microscopic linear rf ion traps have been developed and built to accommodate experimental cavities of lengths of several 100 microns. The first trap design, the 'sandwich' trap, was successfully used to trap 40Ca+ - ions for several hours. It was characterised extensively including a measurement of the heating rates of the ions in the trap. Spectroscopy measurements of the cooling transition, as well as the two repumping transitions were carried out. The second trap design, the 'alumina' trap, also successfully trapped 40Ca+ - ions, and a full characterisation of this trap was made. The experimental cavity was installed at a preliminary cavity length distance of 3.7 mm. The cavity characteristics were examined. Finally the trapped ions were overlapped with the cavity mode by adjusting the trap minimum position along the trap axis via dc voltages and the vertical position of the cavity. To progress further a locking scheme for the cavity length as well as a single - photon detection setup are necessary. To achieve strong coupling a reduction of the cavity length will have to be made.