Significantly Improving the Escape Time of a Single $^{40}$Ca$^+$ Ion in a Linear Paul Trap by Fast Switching of the Endcap Voltage
Peng-Peng Zhou1,2, Shao-Long Chen1, Shi-Yong Liang1,2, Wei Sun1, Huan-Yao Sun1, Yao Huang1, Hua Guan1*, and Ke-Lin Gao1,3*
1State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China 2University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China 3Center for Cold Atom Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China
Abstract:Sympathetic cooling is a method used to lower the kinetic energy of ions with complicated energy-level structures, via Coulomb interactions with laser-cooled ions in an ion trap. The ion to be sympathetically cooled is sometimes prepared outside of the trap, and it is critical to introduce this ion into the trap by temporarily lowering the potential of one endcap without allowing the coolant ion to escape. We study the time required for a laser-cooled ion to escape from a linear Paul trap when the voltage of one endcap is lowered. The escape time is on the order of a few microseconds, and varies significantly when the low-level voltage changes. A re-cooling time of a maximum of 13 s was measured, which can be reduced to approximately one hundred of milliseconds by decreasing the duration of the low-level voltage. The measurement of these critical values lays the foundation for the smooth injection and cooling of the ion to be sympathetically cooled.
. [J]. 中国物理快报, 2020, 37(9): 93701-.
Peng-Peng Zhou, Shao-Long Chen, Shi-Yong Liang, Wei Sun, Huan-Yao Sun, Yao Huang, Hua Guan, and Ke-Lin Gao. Significantly Improving the Escape Time of a Single $^{40}$Ca$^+$ Ion in a Linear Paul Trap by Fast Switching of the Endcap Voltage. Chin. Phys. Lett., 2020, 37(9): 93701-.