Quantum-mechanical localization of an ion in a Paul trap

Albrecht Lindner

M. El Ghafar, E. Mayr, В. И. Савичев +3 more

We show that dynamical localization of vibrational states occurs for an ion stored in a Paul trap and interacting with a standing laser field [1A]. The relation between the classical diffusion and the localization length is found to be of the same form as for the paradigm of dynamical localization, the kicked rotator.

M. El Ghafar, K. Riedel, Päivi Törmä +4 more

M. El Ghafar, Päivi Törmä, В. И. Савичев +3 more

We show that quantum localization occurs in the center-of-mass motion of an ion stored in a Paul trap and interacting with a standing laser field. The present state-of-the-art ion trap systems makes the experimental observation of this phenomenon feasible.

Hanns‐Christoph Nägerl, Christian F. Roos, H. J. Rohde +4 more

Achyut Khadka

The main objective of this study is to investigate the quantum mechanical lifetime of a trapped ion in a Paul trap. The motivation for this research is that there are several applications of trapped ion devices such as mass spectrometers, atomic clocks, and quantum computers. Active research is presently ongoing in the subject of an ion trapping by electric and magnetic fields. There are many classical studies of the characteristics of trapped ions, however there have been relatively few done quantum mechanically. It might be expected that purely quantum effects could play an important role in describing the trapped ions. So, those are the main factors behind the research on this topic. Time-dependent perturbation theory was used in this study which is to find the quantum mechanical lifetime of trapped ion in a Paul trap because time-dependent perturbation theory allows describing the complex system with the help of a simple system that can be calculated easily. It is shown that the lifetime of a trapped ion depends on its transition frequency and the transition between two allowed quantum states of the ion. The transition frequency of an ion has to be very close to the applied frequency of alternating current (AC). The results show that the lifetime of a trapped ion can be adjusted as desired for experimentation.