Abstract Trapping and cooling of Sr + isotope ions by an all-diode-laser system has been demonstrated in order to develop a novel mass spectrometric technique in combination with ion trap-laser cooling. First, we constructed external cavity diode lasers and associated stabilization apparatus for laser cooling of Sr + ions. The transition frequencies confirmed by optogalvanic spectroscopy enabled successful cooling of 88 Sr + ions. An image of two trapped ions has been captured by CCD camera. Minor isotopes, 84 Sr + and 86 Sr + , were also cooled and trapped. From an analysis of the observed spectra of a string crystal of each isotope, the isotope shifts of the cooling transition (5s 2 S 1/2 → 5p 2 P 1/2 ) of Sr + ions were determined to be +371(8) MHz for Δν 84–88 and +169(8) MHz for Δν 86–88 . In the case of the repumping transition (4d 2 D 3/2 → 5p 2 P 1/2 ), Δν 84–88 and Δν 86–88 were measured to be −833(6) and −400(5) MHz, respectively. These values are in good agreement with previously reported values.
This paper reports on trapping and laser-cooling of singly-ionized strontium ions in a linear Paul trap. We demonstrate loading of large ion clouds containing as much as 106 ions and laser cooling down to the Coulomb crystal transition. We observe the spatial segregation of the different Sr+ isotopes due to the mass-dependent Paul trap stiffness. Sympathetic cooling of the different isotopes is demonstrated, either by laser-cooling of 88Sr+ (83% abundance) or of 86Sr+ (10% abundance). These demonstrations open the way to the use of a large ion Coulomb crystal for quantum optics and quantum information experiments, where the strong confinement, the long lifetime, and the absence of perturbation by cooling lasers are crucial.
We have developed an apparatus integrating resonance-ionization, ion-trap, and laser-cooling techniques for an ultratrace radioactive isotope
90Sr analysis. Trapped
90Sr+ isotope ions were laser cooled, and their $4d\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{2}D_{3/2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}5p\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{2}P_{1/2}$ transition isotope shift was experimentally measured to be $\ensuremath{-}281(17)$ MHz by comparing individual spectra of
88Sr+ and
90Sr+ ions. Crystallization of
90Sr+ was carried out using the resonance frequency value confirmed in our experiment, and then
90Sr+ individual ions were successfully observed.