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AIP conference proceedings

Ion Coulomb crystals and some applications

Michael Drewsen

Published Jan 1, 2002• 13 citations
Publisher

Abstract

In this contribution, we present some of our recent results involving ion Coulomb crystals in linear Paul traps. A few results regarding single component crystals are discussed, but the main focus is on properties of two-component crystals and their applications in the fields of cold molecular physics and quantum optics.
DOI
10.1063/1.1454277

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Laser cooling of atomic ions has long been used as a tool in physics to explore quantum entanglement for applications in quantum computing and information. More recently, laser-cooled atomic ions have been used as a platform for studying cold chemistry. Here, we describe an experimental system called a “Coulomb crystal,” where laser-cooled ions are confined in traps at sufficiently low translational energies that they form an ordered structure. We then present a range of experiments undertaken using this platform, from studies of reactions with an atomic species to reaction systems of increased complexity, involving molecular ions and neutral molecules. We also describe a few spectroscopic studies enabled by Coulomb crystals before discussing some possible future directions of the field. This is not meant to be a comprehensive review of the entire field, but rather a sampling of the types of experiments that can be performed and the knowledge gained from these studies.
We report on structural properties of two-component Coulomb crystals in a linear Paul trap. The crystals consist of two laser cooled ion species, 24Mg+ and 40Ca+. The lighter 24Mg+ ions form an inner cylindrical crystal structure surprisingly similar to that of an infinitely long single component crystal, while the outermost shell of the surrounding 40Ca+ ions have a spheroidal shape, which is highly insensitive to the presence of the 24Mg+ ions. Observed changes in the radial separation of the two ion species with the radius of the inner cylindrical crystal is explained by a simple model.
Molecular dynamics simulations of ion Coulomb crystals in linear Paul traps allow for the extraction of properties such as ion temperature and ion counts enabling the investigation of ion chemistry in the ultra-cold regime. These simulations reproduce experimental CCD images using density plots of simulated ions allowing for comparisons to be drawn between simulated and experimental results and providing information inaccessible to the researcher, such as the locations of clouds of non- uorescing species. In this thesis, a method for creating these simulated CCD images is presented, as well as the demonstration of a fourth order integrator for producing more accurate calculations of the ion energy. The simulation of a single frequency Paul trap is presented and the ability to match simulations with experimental parameters as inputs to experimental results is demonstrated in order to show that the simulations that have been constructed can be used to analyze experimental data and work as a predictive lab tool for future explorations of ultra-cold chemistry.