Operation of a Microfabricated Planar Ion‐Trap for Studies of a Yb⁺–Rb Hybrid Quantum System

Abstract

In order to study interactions of atomic ions with ultracold neutral atoms, it is important to have sub‐µm control over positioning ion crystals. Serving for this purpose, a microfabricated planar ion trap featuring 21 DC electrodes is introduced. The ion trap is controlled by a home‐made FPGA voltage source providing independently variable voltages to each of the DC electrodes. To assure stable positioning of ion crystals with respect to trapped neutral atoms, the authors integrate into the overall design a compact mirror magneto optical chip trap (mMOT) for cooling and confining neutral 87Rb atoms. The trapped atoms will be transferred into an also integrated chip‐based Ioffe‐Pritchard trap potential formed by a Z‐shaped wire and an external bias magnetic field. The authors introduce the hybrid atom–ion chip, the microfabricated planar ion trap, and use trapped ion crystals to determine ion lifetimes, trap frequencies, positioning ions, and the accuracy of the compensation of micromotion.

The physics and applications of strongly coupled plasmas levitated in electrodynamic traps

“…A most recent paper reports on a microfabricated planar ion trap featuring 21 d.c. electrodes, intended to study interactions of atomic ions with ultracold neutral atoms. The design also integrates a compact mirror magneto-optical chip trap (mMOT) for cooling and confining neutral 87 Rb atoms, that are transferred into an integrated chip-based Ioffe-Pritchard trap potential [412].…”

“…planar [408,412,423,464,465,474], and cylindrical (toroidal) setups [187,475,476,477,478,479] that exhibit the advantage of enhanced compactness, while being easier to design and machine [475]. Reduced power operation of a mass analyzer under conditions of minimum loss of spectral resolution and mass range is beneficial when discussing in terms of portability.…”

“…As already shown, an electrodynamic balance (EDB) represents a device used to levitate charged particles/droplets or ions, either in vacuum or under SATP conditions. Particular trap geometries such as ring shaped [137] and hyperboloidal shaped electrodes [9,55,193,573,574], segmented [82] and planar geometries [408,412,423,464,465,474], or even toroidal shaped electrodes [187,475,476,477,478,479] are employed to generate a quadrupole electric field. Use of EDBs has pushed forward the domain of mass spectrometry, while providing chemists and physicists an invaluable tool to explore microparticles and NPs and thus investigate their physico-chemical properties [457,548].…”

Hybrid Trapping of $^{87}$Rb Atoms and Yb$^{+}$ Ions in a Chip-Based Experimental Setup

“…The total effective potential used for trapping the ions is the sum of a time-independent potential generated by the trap DC electrodes and a sinusoidal varying part, known as the pseudopotential, that is driven by an RF voltage source. The position of the ion along the trap axis can be precisely controlled by adjusting the DC electric fields [37,42]. This allows for the manipulation and control of the ions in the trap with high precision and stability, essential for the success of the experiments.…”

“…Additionally, other combinations of atoms and ions, such as Rb/Ca + , Yb/Yb + , Ca/Ba + , Ca/Yb + , Na/Na + , Rb/K + , Cs/Rb + , and Na/Ca + , have been studied with atoms cooled in a MOT. In our work, the combination of Rb/Yb + [37] can be studied in both MOT and ultracold regimes in a single setup, therefore we use for the ions a surface Paul trap [38] and for the atoms a mMOT configuration [39].…”