Stern-Gerlach splitting of low-energy ion beams
Abstract
We present a feasibility study with several magnetic field configurations for creating spin-dependent forces that can split a low-energy ion beam by the Stern-Gerlach effect. To the best of our knowledge, coherent spin-splittings of charged particles have yet to be realised. Our proposal is based on ion source parameters taken from a recent experiment that demonstrated single-ion implantation from a high-brightness ion source combined with a radio-frequency Paul trap. The inhomogeneous magnetic fields can be created by permanently magnetised microstructures or from current-carrying wires with sizes in the micron range, such as those recently used in a successful implementation of the Stern-Gerlach effect with neutral atoms. All relevant forces (Lorentz force and image charges) are taken into account, and measurable splittings are found by analytical and numerical calculations.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1903.04061,
title = {Stern-Gerlach splitting of low-energy ion beams},
author = {Carsten Henkel and Georg Jacob and Felix Stopp and Ferdinand Schmidt-Kaler and Mark Keil and Yonathan Japha and Ron Folman},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1903.04061},
year = {2021}
}
Comments
22 pages, 6 figures, expanded discussion about Stern-Gerlach splitting of electrons