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Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics Europe & European Quantum Electronics Conference (CLEO/Europe-EQEC)

An all-optical ion-loading technique for scalable microtrap architectures

Richard Hendricks, David M. Grant, Peter F. Herskind, Aurélien Dantan, Jens Lykke Sørensen, Michael Drewsen

Published Jun 1, 2007• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The authors present an all-optical technique for loading ion traps that has a number of advantages over conventional thermal atom sources. In our experiment a pulsed Nd:YAG laser at 1064 nm, with pulse energies up to 80 muJ and pulse durations in the region of 30 ns, is incident on a calcium metal surface. This generates a pulsed beam of atomic calcium from the metal surface. The atoms are subsequently photo-ionized in a resonant two-photon process by 272 nm light from a frequency-quadrupled fibre laser.

DOI
10.1109/cleoe-iqec.2007.4386684

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The authors present an all-optical technique for loading ion traps that has a number of advantages over conventional thermal atom sources. In our experiment a pulsed Nd:YAG laser at 1064 nm, with pulse energies up to 80 muJ and pulse durations in the region of 30 ns, is incident on a calcium metal surface. This generates a pulsed beam of atomic calcium from the metal surface. The atoms are subsequently photo-ionized in a resonant two-photon process by 272 nm light from a frequency-quadrupled fibre laser.
Atomic cadmium ions are loaded into radiofrequency ion traps by photoionization of atoms in a cadmium vapor with ultrafast laser pulses. The photoionization is driven through an intermediate atomic resonance with a frequency-quadrupled mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser that produces pulses of either $100\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{fs}$ or $1\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{ps}$ duration at a central wavelength of 229nm229\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{nm}229nm. The large bandwidth of the pulses photoionizes all velocity classes of the Cd vapor, resulting in a high loading efficiency compared to previous ion trap loading techniques. Measured loading rates are compared with a simple theoretical model, and we conclude that this technique can potentially ionize every atom traversing the laser beam within the trapping volume. This may allow the operation of ion traps with lower levels of background pressures and less trap electrode surface contamination. The technique and laser system reported here should be applicable to loading most laser-cooled ion species.
We demonstrate loading of 88Sr+^{88}\mathrm{Sr}^{+}88Sr+ ions by laser ablation into a mm-scale surface-electrode ion trap. The laser used for ablation is a pulsed, frequency-tripled Nd:YAG with pulse energies of 1−−10mJ1--10\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{mJ}1−−10mJ and durations of 4ns4\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{ns}4ns. An additional laser is not required to photoionize the ablated material. The efficiency and lifetime of several candidate materials for the laser ablation target are characterized by measuring the trapped ion fluorescence signal for a number of consecutive loads. Additionally, laser ablation is used to load traps with a trap depth (40meV)(40\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{meV})(40meV) below where electron impact ionization loading is typically successful $(\ensuremath{\gtrsim}500\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{meV})$.
Trapped-ion technology is a leading approach for scalable quantum computing. A key element of ion trapping is reliable loading of atomic sources into the trap. While thermal atomic ovens have traditionally been used for this purpose, laser ablation has emerged as a viable alternative in recent years, offering the advantages of faster and more localized loading with lower heat dissipation. Calcium is a well-established ion for qubit applications. Here we examine a range of calcium sources for ablation and provide a comprehensive analysis of each. We consider factors such as ease of use, temperature and yield of the ablation plume, and the lifetime of ablation spots. For each target, we estimate the number of trappable atoms per ablation pulse for a typical surface and 3D ion trap.
We characterise an efficient optically-heated neutral atom source for ion trapping. We observe loading rates of up to 24(3) s−124(3)\,\mathrm{s}^{-1}24(3)s−1 with heating powers below 85 mW85\,\mathrm{mW}85mW, and demonstrate loading of a single ion in under 30 s30\,\mathrm{s}30s with 41.4(4) mW41.4(4)\,\mathrm{mW}41.4(4)mW of optical power in a room-temperature ion trap system with an ionisation probability of 1.50(5)×10−51.50(5)\times10^{-5}1.50(5)×10−5. We calibrate a thermal model for the source's internal temperature by imaging the fluorescence of a collimated flux of neutral calcium that effuses from the oven at various optical heating powers. We show that the thermal performance of this oven is mainly limited by radiative losses. We explore the effect of second-stage photo-ionisation laser power on the loading rate, and identify a path beyond the loading rates reported in this study. We predict that this source is also well-suited to a wide range of metals used in ion-trapping.
In this paper, we present a detailed method for rapidly and effectively loading a single 40 Ca + ion into a miniature linear Paul trap. Calcium atoms are generated by laser ablation, and the single ion is loaded and specific isotopes are selected by a two-step photo-ionization method. Compared to the traditional photo-ionization method in which atoms are typically emitted from a resistively heated oven, the advantages of laser ablation are that it can be precisely controlled, it can effectively avoid the problem of fluxed calcium deposition on the trap electrodes, and it restricts the generation of dark ions, which can influence atomic-precision spectroscopy measurements. With its short loading time, it is possible to load an ion in few seconds with the appropriate parameters. The technique of laser ablation has been applied to generate several species of atoms and ions at present, it will potentially benefit in the studies of optical frequency standards, quantum simulation and quantum information processing in an ultra-high vacuum condition and cryogenic system.