Doppler Cooled Ions in a Compact, Reconfigurable Penning Trap
Abstract
We report the design and experimental demonstration of a compact, reconfigurable Penning ion trap constructed with rare-earth permanent magnets placed outside of a trap vacuum enclosure. We describe the first observation of Doppler laser cooling of ions in a permanent magnet Penning trap. We detail a method for quantifying and optimizing the trap magnetic field uniformity in situ using a thermal beam of neutral Ca precursor atoms. Doppler laser cooling of Ca is carried out at 0.65~T, and side-view images of trapped ion fluorescence show crystalline order for both two- and three-dimensional arrays. Measured Ca trap frequencies confirm the magnetic field characterization with neutral Ca. The compact trap described here enables a variety of cold ion experiments with low size, weight, power, and cost requirements relative to traditional electromagnet-based Penning traps.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1909.02034,
title = {Doppler Cooled Ions in a Compact, Reconfigurable Penning Trap},
author = {Brian J. McMahon and Curtis Volin and Wade G. Rellergert and Brian C. Sawyer},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1909.02034},
year = {2020}
}
Comments
5 pages, 4 figures, supplemental material