Parallel ion strings in linear multipole traps

Mathieu Marciante (1) , Caroline Champenois (1) , J. Pedregosa-Gutierrez (1) , Annette Calisti (1) , Martina Knoop (1)

1 PIIM - Physique des interactions ioniques et moléculaires

Additional radio-frequency (rf) potentials applied to linear multipole traps create extra field nodes in the radial plane which allow one to confine single ions, or strings of ions, in totally rf field-free regions. The number of nodes depends on the order of the applied multipole potentials and their relative distance can be easily tuned by the amplitude variation of the applied voltages. Simulations using molecular dynamics show that strings of ions can be laser cooled down to the Doppler limit in all directions of space. Once cooled, organized systems can be moved with very limited heating, even if the cooling process is turned off.

Domaines: Physique Atomique [physics.atom-ph]; Optique [physics.optics]; Physique Quantique [quant-ph]

Mathieu Marciante, Caroline Champenois, J. Pedregosa-Gutierrez, Annette Calisti, Martina Knoop. Parallel ion strings in linear multipole traps. Physical Review A : Atomic, molecular, and optical physics [1990-2015], 2011, 83, pp.021404(R). ⟨hal-00574770⟩