86 research outputs found
Synthetic Gauge Fields for Vibrational Excitations of Trapped ions
The vibrations of a collection of ions in a microtrap array can be described
in terms of hopping phonons. We show theoretically that the vibrational
couplings may be tailored by using a gradient of the microtrap frequencies,
together with a periodic driving of the trapping potential. These ingredients
allow us to induce effective gauge fields on the vibrational excitations, such
that phonons mimic the behavior of charged particles in a magnetic field. In
particular, microtrap arrays are ideally suited to realize the famous
Aharonov-Bohm effect, and observe the paradigmatic edge states typical from
quantum-Hall samples and topological insulators.Comment: replaced with published versio
Structure, dynamics and bifurcations of discrete solitons in trapped ion crystals
We study discrete solitons (kinks) accessible in state-of-the-art trapped ion
experiments, considering zigzag crystals and quasi-3D configurations, both
theoretically and experimentally. We first extend the theoretical understanding
of different phenomena predicted and recently experimentally observed in the
structure and dynamics of these topological excitations. Employing tools from
topological degree theory, we analyze bifurcations of crystal configurations in
dependence on the trapping parameters, and investigate the formation of kink
configurations and the transformations of kinks between different structures.
This allows us to accurately define and calculate the effective potential
experienced by solitons within the Wigner crystal, and study how this
(so-called Peierls-Nabarro) potential gets modified to a nonperiodic globally
trapping potential in certain parameter regimes. The kinks' rest mass (energy)
and spectrum of modes are computed and the dynamics of linear and nonlinear
kink oscillations are analyzed. We also present novel, experimentally observed,
configurations of kinks incorporating a large-mass defect realized by an
embedded molecular ion, and of pairs of interacting kinks stable for long
times, offering the perspective for exploring and exploiting complex collective
nonlinear excitations, controllable on the quantum level.Comment: 25 pages, 10 figures, v2 corrects Fig. 2 and adds some text and
reference
Quantum Walks with Non-Orthogonal Position States
Quantum walks have by now been realized in a large variety of different
physical settings. In some of these, particularly with trapped ions, the walk
is implemented in phase space, where the corresponding position states are not
orthogonal. We develop a general description of such a quantum walk and show
how to map it into a standard one with orthogonal states, thereby making
available all the tools developed for the latter. This enables a variety of
experiments, which can be implemented with smaller step sizes and more steps.
Tuning the non-orthogonality allows for an easy preparation of extended states
such as momentum eigenstates, which travel at a well-defined speed with low
dispersion. We introduce a method to adjust their velocity by momentum shifts,
which allows to investigate intriguing effects such as the analog of Bloch
oscillations.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Optical Trapping of an Ion
For several decades, ions have been trapped by radio frequency (RF) and
neutral particles by optical fields. We implement the experimental
proof-of-principle for trapping an ion in an optical dipole trap. While
loading, initialization and final detection are performed in a RF trap, in
between, this RF trap is completely disabled and substituted by the optical
trap. The measured lifetime of milliseconds allows for hundreds of oscillations
within the optical potential. It is mainly limited by heating due to photon
scattering. In future experiments the lifetime may be increased by further
detuning the laser and cooling the ion. We demonstrate the prerequisite to
merge both trapping techniques in hybrid setups to the point of trapping ions
and atoms in the same optical potential.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Deterministic delivery of externally cold and precisely positioned single molecular ions
We present the preparation and deterministic delivery of a selectable number
of externally cold molecular ions. A laser cooled ensemble of Mg^+ ions
subsequently confined in several linear Paul traps inter-connected via a
quadrupole guide serves as a cold bath for a single or up to a few hundred
molecular ions. Sympathetic cooling embeds the molecular ions in the
crystalline structure. MgH^+ ions, that serve as a model system for a large
variety of other possible molecular ions, are cooled down close to the Doppler
limit and are positioned with an accuracy of one micrometer. After the
production process, severely compromising the vacuum conditions, the molecular
ion is efficiently transfered into nearly background-free environment. The
transfer of a molecular ion between different traps as well as the control of
the molecular ions in the traps is demonstrated. Schemes, optimized for the
transfer of a specific number of ions, are realized and their efficiencies are
evaluated. This versatile source applicable for broad charge-to-mass ratios of
externally cold and precisely positioned molecular ions can serve as a
container-free target preparation device well suited for diffraction or
spectroscopic measurements on individual molecular ions at high repetition
rates (kHz).Comment: 11 pages, 8 figure
Efficient photoionization for barium ion trapping using a dipole-allowed resonant two-photon transition
Two efficient and isotope-selective resonant two-photon ionization techniques
for loading barium ions into radio-frequency (RF)-traps are demonstrated. The
scheme of using a strong dipole-allowed transition at \lambda=553 nm as a first
step towards ionization is compared to the established technique of using a
weak intercombination line (\lambda=413 nm). An increase of two orders of
magnitude in the ionization efficiency is found favoring the transition at 553
nm. This technique can be implemented using commercial all-solid-state laser
systems and is expected to be advantageous compared to other narrowband
photoionization schemes of barium in cases where highest efficiency and
isotope-selectivity are required.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
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Towards crystalline ion beams -- the PALLAS ring trap
To experimentally elucidate fundamental issues of crystalline ion beams at low velocities the authors presently set up PALLAS, a table top circular RF quadrupole storage ring for acceleration and laser cooling of, e.g., {sup 24}Mg{sup +} ions. Employing the smooth approximation to PALLAS they compare its beam dynamics to heavy ion synchrotrons like TSR Heidelberg and thereby demonstrate the necessity of the highly symmetric lattice for the attainment of crystalline structures. Furthermore, dedicated molecular dynamics simulations are presented, affirming the feasibility of beam crystallization in PALLAS
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