24 research outputs found
Laser spectroscopy of hyperfine structure in highly-charged ions: a test of QED at high fields
An overview is presented of laser spectroscopy experiments with cold,
trapped, highly-charged ions, which will be performed at the HITRAP facility at
GSI in Darmstadt (Germany). These high-resolution measurements of ground state
hyperfine splittings will be three orders of magnitude more precise than
previous measurements. Moreover, from a comparison of measurements of the
hyperfine splittings in hydrogen- and lithium-like ions of the same isotope,
QED effects at high electromagnetic fields can be determined within a few
percent. Several candidate ions suited for these laser spectroscopy studies are
presented.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, 1 table. accepted for Canadian Journal of Physics
(2006
Optimum electrode configurations for fast ion separation in microfabricated surface ion traps
For many quantum information implementations with trapped ions, effective
shuttling operations are important. Here we discuss the efficient separation
and recombination of ions in surface ion trap geometries. The maximum speed of
separation and recombination of trapped ions for adiabatic shuttling operations
depends on the secular frequencies the trapped ion experiences in the process.
Higher secular frequencies during the transportation processes can be achieved
by optimising trap geometries. We show how two different arrangements of
segmented static potential electrodes in surface ion traps can be optimised for
fast ion separation or recombination processes. We also solve the equations of
motion for the ion dynamics during the separation process and illustrate
important considerations that need to be taken into account to make the process
adiabatic
Generation of continuous variable squeezing and entanglement of trapped ions in time-varying potentials
We investigate the generation of squeezing and entanglement for the motional
degrees of freedom of ions in linear traps, confined by time-varying and
oscillating potentials, comprised of an DC and an AC component. We show that
high degrees of squeezing and entanglement can be obtained by controlling
either the DC or the AC trapping component (or both), and by exploiting
transient dynamics in regions where the ions' motion is unstable, without any
added optical control. Furthermore, we investigate the time-scales over which
the potentials should be switched in order for the manipulations to be most
effective.Comment: 10 pages, submitted to Quantum Information Processing (special issue
on Quantum Decoherence and Entanglement
Suitability of linear quadrupole ion traps for large Coulomb crystals
Growing and studying large Coulomb crystals, composed of tens to hundreds of
thousands of ions, in linear quadrupole ion traps presents new challenges for
trap implementation. We consider several trap designs, first comparing the
total driven micromotion amplitude as a function of location within the
trapping volume; total micromotion is an important point of comparison since it
can limit crystal size by transfer of radiofrequency drive energy into thermal
energy. We also compare the axial component of micromotion, which leads to
first-order Doppler shifts along the preferred spectroscopy axis in precision
measurements on large Coulomb crystals. Finally, we compare trapping potential
anharmonicity, which can induce nonlinear resonance heating by shifting normal
mode frequencies onto resonance as a crystal grows. We apply a non-deforming
crystal approximation for simple calculation of these anharmonicity-induced
shifts, allowing a straightforward estimation of when crystal growth can lead
to excitation of different nonlinear heating resonances. In the axial
micromotion and anharmonicity points of comparison, we find significant
differences between the compared trap designs, with an original rotated-endcap
trap performing slightly better than the conventional in-line endcap trap