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Chinese Physics B

Investigation of spatial structure and sympathetic cooling in the 9Be+–40Ca+ bi-component Coulomb crystals

Min Li, Yong Zhang, Qian-Yu Zhang, Wen-Li Bai, Sheng-Guo He, Wen-Cui Peng, Xin Tong

Published May 18, 2022• 7 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We study the spatial structure and sympathetic cooling of the bi-component Coulomb crystal (CC), which consists of approximate 450 9Be+ ions and 450 40Ca+ ions with a mass ratio of 0.225 in a segmented linear ion trap. By two-dimensional imaging of the bi-component CC, the 9Be+ ions are found to be surrounded by the 40Ca+ ions in the radial direction with a separation ratio of ∼ 2.0, and the axial length of the 9Be+ ions occupied area is much larger than that of the 40Ca+ ions occupied area. Combined with the previous experimental results, the structure of the 9Be+–40Ca+ CC shows the larger the difference in the mass–charge ratio, the larger the separation between the two species. The comparison of the fluorescence spectra of the 9Be+ ions in the bi-component CC and the pure CC indicates that the 9Be+ ions can be sympathetically cooled and stably localized by the laser-cooled 40Ca+ ions during the recording of the fluorescence spectrum.

DOI
10.1088/1674-1056/ac70b2

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We study the spatial structure and sympathetic cooling of the bi-component Coulomb crystal (CC), which consists of approximate 450 9Be+ ions and 450 40Ca+ ions with a mass ratio of 0.225 in a segmented linear ion trap. By two-dimensional imaging of the bi-component CC, the 9Be+ ions are found to be surrounded by the 40Ca+ ions in the radial direction with a separation ratio of ∼ 2.0, and the axial length of the 9Be+ ions occupied area is much larger than that of the 40Ca+ ions occupied area. Combined with the previous experimental results, the structure of the 9Be+–40Ca+ CC shows the larger the difference in the mass–charge ratio, the larger the separation between the two species. The comparison of the fluorescence spectra of the 9Be+ ions in the bi-component CC and the pure CC indicates that the 9Be+ ions can be sympathetically cooled and stably localized by the laser-cooled 40Ca+ ions during the recording of the fluorescence spectrum.
We obtain bi-component Coulomb crystals using laser-cooled 40Ca+ ions to sympathetically cool 9Be+ ions in a linear Paul trap. The shell structures of the bi-component Coulomb crystals are investigated. The secular motion frequencies of the two different ions are determined and compared with those in the single-component Coulomb crystals. In the radial direction, the resonant motion frequencies of the two ionic species shift toward each other due to the strong motion coupling in the ion trap. In the axial direction, the motion frequency of the laser-cooled 40Ca+ is impervious to the sympathetically cooled 9Be+ ions because the spatially separation of the two different ionic species leads to the weak motion coupling in the axial direction.
44Ca+, Zn+, or Ga+ ions are sympathetically cooled by Coulomb interaction with laser-cooled 40Ca+ ions, and motional resonances of these ions are observed by monitoring the fluorescence of the 40Ca+ ions. In the experiment of sympathetic cooling of 44Ca+, the ratio of the decrease in the fluorescence signal at the motional resonance of the sympathetically cooled species to that at the motional resonance of the laser-cooled species is almost proportional to the number ratio of the two species. In the case of Ga+ ions as the sympathetically cooled species, the change in the response of sympathetically cooled species becomes larger as the temperature of the ion cloud decreases. Crystallization of an ion cloud which contains both 40Ca+ and Zn+ (or Ga+) is observed.
We report on structural properties of two-component Coulomb crystals in a linear Paul trap. The crystals consist of two laser cooled ion species, 24Mg+ and 40Ca+. The lighter 24Mg+ ions form an inner cylindrical crystal structure surprisingly similar to that of an infinitely long single component crystal, while the outermost shell of the surrounding 40Ca+ ions have a spheroidal shape, which is highly insensitive to the presence of the 24Mg+ ions. Observed changes in the radial separation of the two ion species with the radius of the inner cylindrical crystal is explained by a simple model.
The GBAR (Gravitational Behaviour of Antihydrogen at Rest) experiment at CERN, situated on the antiproton decelerator ring (AD), is aimed at investigating the free fall of antihydrogen atoms prepared at rest, as suggested by J. Walz and Th. Hänsch [1]. This experiment employs two trapped ions: one is a Be+ ion cooled via laser, while the other, an Hbar+ ion, undergoes cooling through interactions with the Be+ ion (sympathetic cooling). We are developing a test-bed experiment designed to explore sympathetic cooling of a light ion using a cloud of laser-cooled heavy ions, mimicking the conditions anticipated in the GBAR project [2]. The experimental setup involves the pairing of 88Sr+ (laser-cooled ion) and 9Be+ (sympathetically cooled ion). The choice of these ions offers two advantages: the ability to optically address the 9Be+ ion for thermometry measurements and their mass ratio (88/9 ≈ 9.8) closely resembling that in the GBAR project (9/1). Preliminary experimental results [3] demonstrate sympathetic cooling of 9Be+ ions by laser-cooled 88Sr+ ions, forming a Coulomb crystal. Detection of sympathetically cooled ions relies on analyzing Coulomb crystal images, revealing dark areas where non-laser-cooled Be+ ions reside. Molecular dynamics simulations showed strong spatial segregation for both species, due to their high mass ratios [4]. However, the initial experiment did not include laser addressing of the 9Be+ ions for measuring cooling dynamics and control over the initial energy of Be+ ions. The next stage of the project therefore involves adding the 313nm laser for addressing Be+ ions and utilizing a 2-zone trap to control the initial energy of a single Be+ ion. This will enable us to measure for the first time the capture dynamics of a light ion by a Coulomb crystal and to follow its cooling over several decades (typically from 10000K to mK). We will compare these measurements with numerical simulations [4]. Initially, only Sr+ ions were employed to validate trapping and cooling conditions, characterize photon collection optics, and test ion transport protocols between trapping zones. A method utilizing Doppler recooling was developed to characterize the initial energy of Sr+ ions upon arrival in the target trap. Subsequently, using the Be+ ion cooling laser at 313 nm, it will be possible to cool a single Be+ ion and transport it with controlled kinetic energy to the second trapping zone, already loaded with a Sr+ Coulomb crystal. The kinetic energy loss of the Be+ ion is quantified by measuring laser-induced fluorescence rate at resonance, which produces no laser cooling or heating. Thermalization of the light ion via coulomb interactions will then be studied for different heavy-ion crystal temperatures, shapes and ion numbers.
Coulomb crystals, containing up to a few hundred ions of which more than 50% were cooled sympathetically by the Coulomb interaction with laser cooled Mg+ ions, have been produced in a linear Paul trap. By controlling the balance of the radiation pressure from the two cooling lasers, the Coulomb crystals could be segregated according to ion species. Previous studies of ion crystals and molecular dynamics simulations suggest that the temperature may be around 10 mK or lower. The obtained results indicate that a wide range of atomic and molecular ions, which due to their internal structures are not amenable to direct laser cooling, can be effectively cooled and localized (crystallized) in linear Paul traps. For high resolution spectroscopy of such ions this may turn out to be very useful.