This paper presents a survey of recent work in the field of the physics of trapped ions, as an introduction to this Journal of Modern Optics special issue. The contrasting properties of trapped ion clouds and the single trapped ion are highlighted, together with their application to frequency standards and fundamental measurements.
Ion traps are fantastic tools to explore the world of electrons, atomic and molecular ions, or charged clusters, in the classical as well as in the quantum regime. Extremely long storage times allow probing even of single particles with very high precision. The mass selectivity of the trapping devices is exploited in many experiments, in particular for mass metrology. An overwhelming part of the experiments and ideas rely on the very high level of parameter control which is offered by the ion trap. Manipulation of individual ions and engineering of well defined quantum states are the fundamental techniques to take the experiments beyond existing frontiers and to unprecedented precision. This special issue presents state-of-the-art theory and experiments in a variety of tutorials, reviews and research papers. More than half of these contributions form a follow-up to the first workshop on Modern Applications of Trapped Ions held in Les Houches, France, in May 2008. A great number of topics is covered in atomic and molecular physics, with ion traps as a common tool. The variety of approaches is meant to make this digest a helpful resource to the whole ion trapping community. Among the contributions, four major – while still overlapping – domains can be identified. Novel ion trap design is the motor of future developments and applications. Spectacular progress has been made in the domain of quantum information processing, such as the realization of planar traps, which opens the way to large-scale quantum computation. In this issue, this enthralling subject is introduced by a tutorial and two review articles, completed by contributions on different experimental realizations. Precision measurements belong to a more traditional domain which nevertheless evolves at the forefront of research: metrology of frequencies and fundamental constants, measurements of g-factors or high-precision mass measurements are the foundations of atomic and molecular physics. The creation and investigation of cold molecular ions and clusters are among the fastest growing topics, leading to ultracold chemistry at the single-particle scale. The next edition of this meeting series will take the name of European Conference on Trapped Ions (ECTI) and will be held in the UK in 2010. We are looking forward to this event, which will offer the possibility to continue the fruitful interaction between research groups that employ ion traps in widely different contexts, and to take the next snapshot of this dynamic research area.
Ion traps are fantastic tools to explore the world of electrons, atomic and molecular ions, or charged clusters, in the classical as well as in the quantum regime. Extremely long storage times allow probing even of single particles with very high precision. The mass selectivity of the trapping devices is exploited in many experiments, in particular for mass metrology. An overwhelming part of the experiments and ideas rely on the very high level of parameter control which is offered by the ion trap. Manipulation of individual ions and engineering of well defined quantum states are the fundamental techniques to take the experiments beyond existing frontiers and to unprecedented precision. This special issue presents state-of-the-art theory and experiments in a variety of tutorials, reviews and research papers. More than half of these contributions form a follow-up to the first workshop on Modern Applications of Trapped Ions held in Les Houches, France, in May 2008. A great number of topics is covered in atomic and molecular physics, with ion traps as a common tool. The variety of approaches is meant to make this digest a helpful resource to the whole ion trapping community. Among the contributions, four major – while still overlapping – domains can be identified. Novel ion trap design is the motor of future developments and applications. Spectacular progress has been made in the domain of quantum information processing, such as the realization of planar traps, which opens the way to large-scale quantum computation. In this issue, this enthralling subject is introduced by a tutorial and two review articles, completed by contributions on different experimental realizations. Precision measurements belong to a more traditional domain which nevertheless evolves at the forefront of research: metrology of frequencies and fundamental constants, measurements of g-factors or high-precision mass measurements are the foundations of atomic and molecular physics. The creation and investigation of cold molecular ions and clusters are among the fastest growing topics, leading to ultracold chemistry at the single-particle scale. The next edition of this meeting series will take the name of European Conference on Trapped Ions (ECTI) and will be held in the UK in 2010. We are looking forward to this event, which will offer the possibility to continue the fruitful interaction between research groups that employ ion traps in widely different contexts, and to take the next snapshot of this dynamic research area.
Trapped and laser-cooled ions are increasingly used for a variety of modern high-precision experiments, for frequency standard applications, and for quantum information processing. Therefore laser cooling of trapped ions is reviewed, the current state of the art is reported, and several new cooling techniques are outlined. The principles of ion trapping and the basic concepts of laser cooling for trapped atoms are introduced. The underlying physical mechanisms are presented, and basic experiments are briefly sketched. Particular attention is paid to recent progress by elucidating several milestone experiments. In addition, a number of special cooling techniques pertaining to trapped ions are reviewed; open questions and future research lines are indicated.
For the past 15 years, tremendous progress within the fields of laser stabilization, optical frequency combs and atom cooling and trapping have allowed the realization of optical atomic clocks with unrivaled performances. These instruments can perform frequency comparisons with fractional uncertainties well below 10-17, finding applications in fundamental physics tests, relativistic geodesy and time and frequency metrology. Even though most optical clocks are currently laboratory setups, several proposals for using these clocks for field measurements or within an optical clock network have been published, and most of time and frequency metrology institutes have started to develop transportable optical clocks. For the purpose of this special issue, we chose to focus on trapped-ion optical clocks. Even though their short-term fractional frequency stability is impaired by a lower signal-to-noise ratio, they offer a high potential for compactness: trapped ions demand low optical powers and simple loading schemes, and can be trapped in small vacuum chambers. We review recent advances on the clock key components, including ion trap and ultra-stable optical cavity, as well as existing projects and experiments which draw the picture of what future transportable, single-ion optical clocks may resemble.
This engaging book presents the fundamentals of ion traps and their use in physics, chemistry and their technological applications. Following an overview of the types of traps and their operation, the book explores their key areas of application for the development of new physics, chemistry, or engineering at a level accessible by students. The introductory nature and broad coverage will also make the book essential reading for scientists who wish to understand and explore the use of ion traps in their research. Embracing optical manipulation, entanglement and exploitation in quantum computing, chemical reactivity, atomic clocks and testing fundamental physics this book provides a broad and accessible introduction to the world of ion traps and how our understanding and exploitation of trapped ions is furthering modern science and technology. Key features • An accessible overview of ion traps and their applications. • Extensive coverage includes relevant physics and applications in physics and chemistry. • Introduces the main areas of application in modern scientific research. • Appendices feature mathematical topics and descriptions for advanced readers.
Recent experimental works with ion traps are surveyed.Ion traps can confine ions of very low-energy in a small space, and they are useful tools for the precise spectroscopy of ions.Basic ideas on trapping mechanism of several types of the traps and detection methods of trapped ions are summarized.Major topics are ultrahigh-resolution spectroscopy of ions using laser cooling methods and physics on one-component plasmas such as localization, phase transition and crystallization of ion cloud.Applications to elementary particle physics , nuclear physics and atomic physics on multiply charged ions are also presented.