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Journal of the Optical Society of America B

Laser cooling of trapped ions

Jürgen Eschner, Giovanna Morigi, Ferdinand Schmidt‐Kaler, R. Blatt

Published May 1, 2003• 235 citations
Publisher

Abstract

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.

DOI
10.1364/josab.20.001003

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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.
In an iontrap,laser-cooled ions can be confined in a small space in an ultra-high vacuum so that collisions rarely happen and the ions are well isolated from the environment. Since these conditions enable high-resolution spectroscopy of single ions, laser-cooled ions are suitable for use in developing frequency standards. The ions can be cooled to the motional ground state to give a well-defined initial quantum state for quantum state manipulation and quantum computing. In this review, principles of ion traps and laser cooling, and recent progress in optical frequency standards and quantum computing with trapped ions are described.
A review is given of the use of trapped atomic ions for spectroscopy and for quantum optics. The article discusses the principles of operation of the different types of traps, and their advantages for work in these fields, including the use of laser cooling of trapped ions. Aspects of laser cooling are demonstrated with the help of a numerical simulation program. Then the use of spectroscopic techniques to study the oscillation frequencies of trapped ions is discussed. Finally a number of different experiments illustrating the application of trapped ions to quantum optics are presented.
New developments in spectroscopy and quantum optics with stored ions are summarized and discussed. Currently used ion trap devices are briefly described, and newly proposed cooling techniques are indicated. Recent results in precision spectroscopy are reviewed with particular emphasis on time and frequency standards. New applications of stored ions in the field of quantum optics are proposed such as the preparation of nonclassical states of motion in an ion trap. These can be detected by observation of the quantum collapse and revival phenomenon.
In many experiments utilizing ion traps, the ions must be cooled in order to increase the precision and accuracy of the measurements. Laser cooling is very effective when it can be applied, but it can only be used with a few kinds of ions, since it depends critically on the details of the electronic level structure. Other methods, such as resistive cooling, active-feedback cooling, collisional cooling, radiofrequency side-band cooling, or sympathetic laser cooling, can be applied to many kinds of ions. Progress in cooling of trapped ions has made possible improved measurements of mass ratios and atomic spectra and the observation of new phenomena, such as the formation of ordered Coulomb "crystals" of ions.
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.
Recently, laser cooling methods have been extended from atoms to molecules. The complex rotational and vibrational energy level structure of molecules makes laser cooling difficult, but these difficulties have been overcome and molecules have now been cooled to a few microkelvin and trapped for several seconds. This opens many possibilities for applications in quantum science and technology, controlled chemistry, and tests of fundamental physics. This article explains how molecules can be decelerated, cooled and trapped using laser light, reviews the progress made in recent years, and outlines some future applications.