Efficient cooling of trapped ions is a prerequisite for various applications of the ions in precision spectroscopy, quantum information, and coherence control. Raman sideband cooling is an effective method to cool the ions to their motional ground state. We investigate both numerically and experimentally the optimization of Raman sideband cooling strategies and propose an efficient one, which can simplify the experimental setup as well as reduce the number of cooling pulses. Several cooling schemes are tested and compared through numerical simulations. The simulation result shows that the fixed-width pulses and varied-width pulses have almost the same efficiency for both the first-order and the second-order Raman sideband cooling. The optimized strategy is verified experimentally. A single ${^{25}\mathrm{Mg}}^{+}$ ion is trapped in a linear Paul trap and Raman sideband cooled, and the achieved average vibrational quantum numbers under different cooling strategies are evaluated. A good agreement between the experimental result and the simulation result is obtained.Efficient cooling of trapped ions is a prerequisite for various applications of the ions in precision spectroscopy, quantum information, and coherence control. Raman sideband cooling is an effective method to cool the ions to their motional ground state. We investigate both numerically and experimentally the optimization of Raman sideband cooling strategies and propose an efficient one, which can simplify the experimental setup as well as reduce the number of cooling pulses. Several cooling schemes are tested and compared through numerical simulations. The simulation result shows that the fixed-width pulses and varied-width pulses have almost the same efficiency for both the first-order and the second-order Raman sideband cooling. The optimized strategy is verified experimentally. A single ${^{25}\mathrm{Mg}}^{+}$ ion is trapped in a linear Paul trap and Raman sideband cooled, and the achieved average vibrational quantum numbers under different cooling strategies are evaluated. A good agreement between the experimental result and the simulation result is obtained.

Physical Review AJul 17, 201727 citations

Role of laser damping in trapped ion crystals

Ralph G. DeVoe, John A. Hoffnagle, Richard G. Brewer

It is currently thought that the laser cooling of an ordered ion array, an ion crystal, is qualitatively the same as that of a single ion. We show that this assumption is strongly violated in recent experiments in Paul traps, due to ion micromotion. Our analysis demonstrates an unexpected laser damping instability that induces an ion-crystal order-chaos transition and also explains why ion crystals in Paul traps have been limited to less than 100 ions. We directly observe the effects of ion micromotion on the laser cooling of a single trapped ${\mathrm{Ba}}^{+}$ ion by a new technique.It is currently thought that the laser cooling of an ordered ion array, an ion crystal, is qualitatively the same as that of a single ion. We show that this assumption is strongly violated in recent experiments in Paul traps, due to ion micromotion. Our analysis demonstrates an unexpected laser damping instability that induces an ion-crystal order-chaos transition and also explains why ion crystals in Paul traps have been limited to less than 100 ions. We directly observe the effects of ion micromotion on the laser cooling of a single trapped ${\mathrm{Ba}}^{+}$ ion by a new technique.

Physical Review AMay 1, 198968 citations

The Role of Laser Damping in Trapped Ion Crystals

Ralph G. DeVoe, John A. Hoffnagle, Richard G. Brewer

Laser SpectroscopyJan 1, 19892 citations

{^{25}\mathrm{Mg}}^{+}

ion is trapped in a linear Paul trap and Raman sideband cooled, and the achieved average vibrational quantum numbers under different cooling strategies are evaluated. A good agreement between the experimental result and the simulation result is obtained.

{\mathrm{Ba}}^{+}

ion by a new technique.