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Physical Review A

Mode coupling in a Penning trap:πpulses and a classical avoided crossing

Eric Cornell, Robert M. Weisskoff, Kevin Robert Boyce, David E. Pritchard

Published Jan 1, 1990• 181 citations
Publisher

Abstract

An inhomogeneous radiofrequency electric field can couple the cyclotron and axial modes of a single ion in a Penning trap. The classical equations of motion are the same as those of a driven quantum-mechanical two-level system. We discuss an analog of the \ensuremath{\pi} pulse, which can exchange mode actions, and an analog of the avoided crossing. Experimental illustrations are presented.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.41.312

Related papers

A quantum mechanical model of Rabi oscillations between two interacting harmonic oscillator modes and the interconversion of modes in a Penning trap

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When a Penning trap is operated with an additional quadrupole driving field with a frequency that equals a suitable combination (sum or difference) of the frequencies of the fundamental modes of motion (modified cyclotron, magnetron and axial frequency), then a periodic conversion of the participating modes into each other is observed, strongly resembling the Rabi oscillations in a 2-level atom driven by a laser field tuned to the transition frequency. This investigation attempts to understand on a fundamental level how and why the motion of a classical particle in a macroscopic apparatus can be truely analogous to the oscillations of states of quantum mechanical 2-level systems (2-level atom or magnetic resonance). Ion motion in a Penning trap with an additional quadrupole driving field is described in a quantum mechanical frame work. The Heisenberg equations of motion for the creation and annihilation operators of the interacting oscillators have been explicitly solved, the time development operator of the Schrödinger picture has been determined. The driving field provides for two types of intermode interaction: Type I preserves the total number of excitation quanta present in the two interacting modes, the system oscillates between the modes with a frequency corresponding to the Rabi frequency in two-level systems. Type II preserves the difference of the numbers of excitation quanta present in the two interacting modes, it causes the ion motion to become unbounded. The two types of interaction are associated in a natural way with a SU(2) and a SU(1,1) Lie algebra. The three generators of these algebras form a vector operator that we denote as the Bloch vector operator. The Hilbert space decomposes in a natural way into invariant subspaces, finite dimensional in the case of type I interaction (SU(2)-algebra) and infinite dimensional in the case of type II interaction (SU(1,1)-algebra). The physics of the 2-level atom in the laser field can be described in the 2-dimensional (the lowest nontrivial) sector of the Hilbert space associated with the type I (SU(2)-algebra) interaction. The Bloch vector, well known from quantum optics, is the expectation value of our Bloch operator. On the other hand, the description of ion motion in the Penning trap requires the whole infinite dimensional Hilbert space of our model. Classical ion trajectories are obtained by calculating for the observables corresponding to position and momentum the expectation values with respect to minimum uncertainty coherent oscillator states.

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Quantum dynamics of small numbers of ions in a penning trap

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Laser-cooled trapped ions are one of the main systems used in experiments in the fields of quantum optics and quantum information. There are two commonly-used types of ion trap, the radiofrequency trap and the Penning trap. In general, the RF trap has been more widely used in quantum information experiments, meaning that the set of experimental tools for conducting these types of experiments in a Penning trap is currently less complete. The aim of the work presented in this thesis is to increase this array of tools. Our experiment uses 40Ca+ ions in a Penning trap alongside lasers. Spectroscopy has been performed on single Doppler cooled ions, and on ions that have been prepared close to their ground state of motion using a multiple-stage sideband cooling technique resulting in an average phonon occupation number of $\nzbar = 0.029\pm 0.011$ from an initial $\nzbar \approx 24$. This corresponds to a quantum ground state population of $97\%$, which is close to the sideband cooling limit in our system. An axial heating rate measurement of $\dot{\bar{n}}_z=\SI{0.56\pm0.52}{\per\second}$ has also been obtained, which is the lowest recorded to date, due in part to the large dimensions of our trap. Additionally improved control of the Penning trap radial motion has been demonstrated and the average phonon occupation number of the modified cyclotron motion has been reduced from $\ncbar\approx150$ after Doppler cooling to $\ncbar=0.6$ after sideband cooling. Some preliminary single-ion coherent operations have also been performed. In the future we hope that this system of ground state cooled ions in a Penning trap can be used to generate highly-entangled states in two or more ions, with a view to performing simple quantum error-correcting codes and eventually an analogue quantum simulation of spin systems.

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Doppler and sideband cooling are long-standing techniques that have been used together to prepare trapped atomic ions in their ground state of motion. In this paper we study how these techniques can be extended to cool both radial modes of motion of a single ion in a Penning trap. We numerically explore the prerequisite experimental parameters for efficient Doppler cooling in the presence of an additional oscillating electric field to resonantly couple the radial modes. The simulations are supported by experimental data for a single $^{40}\mathrm{Ca}^{+}$ ion Doppler cooled to $\ensuremath{\sim}100$ phonons in both radial modes at a magnetron frequency of 52 kHz and a modified cyclotron frequency of 677 kHz. For these frequencies, we then show that mean phonon numbers of 0.35(5) for the modified cyclotron and 1.7(2) for the magnetron motions are achieved after 68 ms of sideband cooling.

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Dynamics of axialized laser-cooled ions in a Penning trap

E. S. Phillips, Richard Hendricks, A M Abdulla +5 more

We report the experimental characterization of axialization---a method of reducing the magnetron motion of a small number of ions stored in a Penning trap. This is an important step in the investigation of the suitability of Penning traps for quantum-information processing. The magnetron motion was coupled to the laser-cooled modified cyclotron motion by the application of a near-resonant oscillating quadrupole potential (the ``axialization drive''). Measurement of cooling rates of the radial motions of the ions showed an order-of-magnitude increase in the damping rate of the magnetron motion with the axialization drive applied. The experimental results are in good qualitative agreement with a recent theoretical study. In particular, a classical avoided crossing was observed in the motional frequencies as the axialization drive frequency was swept through the optimum value, proving that axialization is indeed a resonant effect.

arXiv:0710.4401•Physical Review A•Sep 3, 2008•16 citations
An inhomogeneous radiofrequency electric field can couple the cyclotron and axial modes of a single ion in a Penning trap. The classical equations of motion are the same as those of a driven quantum-mechanical two-level system. We discuss an analog of the \ensuremath{\pi} pulse, which can exchange mode actions, and an analog of the avoided crossing. Experimental illustrations are presented.
When a Penning trap is operated with an additional quadrupole driving field with a frequency that equals a suitable combination (sum or difference) of the frequencies of the fundamental modes of motion (modified cyclotron, magnetron and axial frequency), then a periodic conversion of the participating modes into each other is observed, strongly resembling the Rabi oscillations in a 2-level atom driven by a laser field tuned to the transition frequency. This investigation attempts to understand on a fundamental level how and why the motion of a classical particle in a macroscopic apparatus can be truely analogous to the oscillations of states of quantum mechanical 2-level systems (2-level atom or magnetic resonance). Ion motion in a Penning trap with an additional quadrupole driving field is described in a quantum mechanical frame work. The Heisenberg equations of motion for the creation and annihilation operators of the interacting oscillators have been explicitly solved, the time development operator of the Schrödinger picture has been determined. The driving field provides for two types of intermode interaction: Type I preserves the total number of excitation quanta present in the two interacting modes, the system oscillates between the modes with a frequency corresponding to the Rabi frequency in two-level systems. Type II preserves the difference of the numbers of excitation quanta present in the two interacting modes, it causes the ion motion to become unbounded. The two types of interaction are associated in a natural way with a SU(2) and a SU(1,1) Lie algebra. The three generators of these algebras form a vector operator that we denote as the Bloch vector operator. The Hilbert space decomposes in a natural way into invariant subspaces, finite dimensional in the case of type I interaction (SU(2)-algebra) and infinite dimensional in the case of type II interaction (SU(1,1)-algebra). The physics of the 2-level atom in the laser field can be described in the 2-dimensional (the lowest nontrivial) sector of the Hilbert space associated with the type I (SU(2)-algebra) interaction. The Bloch vector, well known from quantum optics, is the expectation value of our Bloch operator. On the other hand, the description of ion motion in the Penning trap requires the whole infinite dimensional Hilbert space of our model. Classical ion trajectories are obtained by calculating for the observables corresponding to position and momentum the expectation values with respect to minimum uncertainty coherent oscillator states.
We use the results of a Lagrangian formulation of the dynamics of ions in a Penning trap to calculate the motional frequencies of the ions as a function of the trapping parameters. We then add realistic perturbations to the ideal trapping fields in the formalism and deduce the effects of these perturbations on the ion motion. For an ideal trap there exist values of the applied trapping fields that result in a degeneracy in the ion oscillation frequencies associated with different types of motion. We show that this motional frequency degeneracy is lifted by the inclusion of the effect of a tilt of the trap axis with respect to the axis of the applied magnetic field, leading to an ``avoided crossing'' between the oscillation frequencies. We calculate typical ion orbits for trap parameters that give oscillation frequencies near the avoided crossing between the axial and modified cyclotron frequencies. We generalize the analysis to include the motion of ions in a combined (Penning-Paul) trap and perform an experiment to test the predictions of the theory for a degeneracy between the modified cyclotron frequency and the axial frequency for Mg+{\mathrm{Mg}}^{+}Mg+ ions held in a tilted combined trap. The oscillation frequencies are measured for a range of tilt angles using a photon-photon correlation technique. There is good agreement between the experimental results and the theoretical predictions. The method we describe may prove to be a useful means by which trap imperfections can be identified and subsequently removed.
Laser-cooled trapped ions are one of the main systems used in experiments in the fields of quantum optics and quantum information. There are two commonly-used types of ion trap, the radiofrequency trap and the Penning trap. In general, the RF trap has been more widely used in quantum information experiments, meaning that the set of experimental tools for conducting these types of experiments in a Penning trap is currently less complete. The aim of the work presented in this thesis is to increase this array of tools. Our experiment uses 40Ca+ ions in a Penning trap alongside lasers. Spectroscopy has been performed on single Doppler cooled ions, and on ions that have been prepared close to their ground state of motion using a multiple-stage sideband cooling technique resulting in an average phonon occupation number of $\nzbar = 0.029\pm 0.011$ from an initial $\nzbar \approx 24$. This corresponds to a quantum ground state population of 97%97\%97%, which is close to the sideband cooling limit in our system. An axial heating rate measurement of $\dot{\bar{n}}_z=\SI{0.56\pm0.52}{\per\second}$ has also been obtained, which is the lowest recorded to date, due in part to the large dimensions of our trap. Additionally improved control of the Penning trap radial motion has been demonstrated and the average phonon occupation number of the modified cyclotron motion has been reduced from $\ncbar\approx150$ after Doppler cooling to $\ncbar=0.6$ after sideband cooling. Some preliminary single-ion coherent operations have also been performed. In the future we hope that this system of ground state cooled ions in a Penning trap can be used to generate highly-entangled states in two or more ions, with a view to performing simple quantum error-correcting codes and eventually an analogue quantum simulation of spin systems.
Doppler and sideband cooling are long-standing techniques that have been used together to prepare trapped atomic ions in their ground state of motion. In this paper we study how these techniques can be extended to cool both radial modes of motion of a single ion in a Penning trap. We numerically explore the prerequisite experimental parameters for efficient Doppler cooling in the presence of an additional oscillating electric field to resonantly couple the radial modes. The simulations are supported by experimental data for a single 40Ca+^{40}\mathrm{Ca}^{+}40Ca+ ion Doppler cooled to $\ensuremath{\sim}100$ phonons in both radial modes at a magnetron frequency of 52 kHz and a modified cyclotron frequency of 677 kHz. For these frequencies, we then show that mean phonon numbers of 0.35(5) for the modified cyclotron and 1.7(2) for the magnetron motions are achieved after 68 ms of sideband cooling.
We report the experimental characterization of axialization---a method of reducing the magnetron motion of a small number of ions stored in a Penning trap. This is an important step in the investigation of the suitability of Penning traps for quantum-information processing. The magnetron motion was coupled to the laser-cooled modified cyclotron motion by the application of a near-resonant oscillating quadrupole potential (the ``axialization drive''). Measurement of cooling rates of the radial motions of the ions showed an order-of-magnitude increase in the damping rate of the magnetron motion with the axialization drive applied. The experimental results are in good qualitative agreement with a recent theoretical study. In particular, a classical avoided crossing was observed in the motional frequencies as the axialization drive frequency was swept through the optimum value, proving that axialization is indeed a resonant effect.