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A trapped single ion inside a Bose–Einstein condensate

Christoph Zipkes, Stefan Palzer, Carlo Sias, Michael Köhl

Published Jan 1, 2010• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

A Bose–Einstein trap Until now, quantum atomic gases and single trapped ions have been treated separately in experiments. Now a team from the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge has combined the two, in the form of a hybrid quantum system composed of a Bose–Einstein condensate of neutral atoms and a trapped atomic ion. They achieve independent control over the two systems, study the fundamental interaction processes and observe sympathetic cooling of the single ion by the condensate. Possible avenues of research that this could lead to include the continuous cooling of quantum computers, and explorations of entanglement in hybrid quantum systems.

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A Bose–Einstein trap Until now, quantum atomic gases and single trapped ions have been treated separately in experiments. Now a team from the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge has combined the two, in the form of a hybrid quantum system composed of a Bose–Einstein condensate of neutral atoms and a trapped atomic ion. They achieve independent control over the two systems, study the fundamental interaction processes and observe sympathetic cooling of the single ion by the condensate. Possible avenues of research that this could lead to include the continuous cooling of quantum computers, and explorations of entanglement in hybrid quantum systems.
In recent years, ultracold atoms have emerged as an exceptionally controllable experimental system to investigate fundamental physics, ranging from quantum information science to simulations of condensed matter models. Here we go one step further and explore how cold atoms can be combined with other quantum systems to create new quantum hybrids with tailored properties. Coupling atomic quantum many-body states to an independently controllable single-particle gives access to a wealth of novel physics and to completely new detection and manipulation techniques. We report on recent experiments in which we have for the first time deterministically placed a single ion into an atomic Bose Einstein condensate. A trapped ion, which currently constitutes the most pristine single particle quantum system, can be observed and manipulated at the single particle level. In this single-particle/many-body composite quantum system we show sympathetic cooling of the ion and observe chemical reactions of single particles in situ.
In recent years, ultracold atoms have emerged as an exceptionally controllable experimental system to investigate fundamental physics, ranging from quantum information science to simulations of condensed matter models. Here we go one step further and explore how cold atoms can be combined with other quantum systems to create new quantum hybrids with tailored properties. Coupling atomic quantum many-body states to an independently controllable single-particle gives access to a wealth of novel physics and to completely new detection and manipulation techniques. We report on recent experiments in which we have for the first time deterministically placed a single ion into an atomic Bose Einstein condensate. A trapped ion, which currently constitutes the most pristine single particle quantum system, can be observed and manipulated at the single particle level. In this single-particle/many-body composite quantum system we show sympathetic cooling of the ion and observe chemical reactions of single particles in situ.
Ultracold atoms and trapped ions are among the most formidable sources of coherent matter available in a laboratory. In a hybrid quantum system of atoms and ions, ultracold atoms and trapped ions are combined in a single experimental apparatus, thus realizing an innovative platform to experimentally investigate open problems of quantum physics from a new standpoint. An atom-ion hybrid system not only brings together the advantages of each single physical system, but moreover gives rise to atom-ion interactions, which are two orders of magnitude longer-ranged than atom-atom interactions. Despite a strong interest in atom-ion experiments in recent years, atom-ion systems have not yet been brought to an s-wave scattering regime in which atoms and ions experience a long-living coherent evolution. I will report on the advancements in the realization of an experimental apparatus in which a single trapped Barium ion will be immersed into an ultracold gas of fermionic Lithium. In particular, I will report on the a number of technical advancements that we have realized in order to achieve the highest possible level of control over the atom-ion quantum mixture. These include a new ion trap for creating confining potentials for the ions with a combination of optical and electric fields [1], and a high-finesse optical cavity for confining and rapidly cool neutral atoms via unconventional sideband cooling [2]. Notably, this apparatus was recently used to successfully trap Ba+ ions, thus realizing the first ion trapping experiment in Italy. [1] E. Perego, L. Duca, C. Sias Appl. Sci. 10, 2222 (2020) [2] F. Berto, E. Perego, L. Duca, C. Sias arXiv:2107.04110 Phys. Rev. Research (in press)
We describe a hybrid vacuum system in which a single ion or a well-defined small number of trapped ions (in our case Ba(+) or Rb(+)) can be immersed into a cloud of ultracold neutral atoms (in our case Rb). This apparatus allows for the study of collisions and interactions between atoms and ions in the ultracold regime. Our setup is a combination of a Bose-Einstein condensation apparatus and a linear Paul trap. The main design feature of the apparatus is to first separate the production locations for the ion and the ultracold atoms and then to bring the two species together. This scheme has advantages in terms of stability and available access to the region where the atom-ion collision experiments are carried out. The ion and the atoms are brought together using a moving one-dimensional optical lattice transport which vertically lifts the atomic sample over a distance of 30 cm from its production chamber into the center of the Paul trap in another chamber. We present techniques to detect and control the relative position between the ion and the atom cloud.
In the last five years, a novel field of physics and chemistry has developed in which cold trapped ions and ultracold atomic gases are brought into contact with each other. Combining ion traps with traps for neutral atoms yields a variety of new possibilities for research and experiments. These range from studies of cold atom–ion collisions and atom–ion chemistry to applications in quantum information science and condensed matter related research. In this article we give a brief introduction into this new field and describe some of the perspectives for its future development.
In this PhD thesis, we describe the design and construction of an experimental apparatus capable of trapping, cooling and spatially overlapping neutral 6Li atoms and Yb+ ions. Our main goal is to reach the quantum regime in atom-ion mixtures and to investigate fundamental atom-ion scattering physics. In particular, we answer two important questions: 1) How does the atom-ion quantum simulator behave when we include micromotion in its theoretical description? To answer this question, we analyze in theory the quantum dynamics of an atom-ion quantum simulator unit cell in which a single atom interacts with a single trapped ion. 2) Is the combination Yb+/Li suitable for the experimental applications intended? To find this out we experimentally establish if the chemical reaction rate in colliding Li–Yb+ systems is low enough to allow for quantum applications and sympathetic cooling.