The TRAPSENSOR facility: an open-ring 7 tesla Penning trap for laser-based precision experiments

Abstract

A Penning-trap facility for high-precision mass spectrometry based on a novel detection method has been built. This method consists in measuring motional frequencies of singly-charged ions trapped in strong magnetic fields through the fluorescence photons from laser-cooled 40 Ca + ions, to overcome limitations faced in electronic single-ion detection techniques. The key element of this facility is an open-ring Penning trap coupled upstream to a preparation Penning trap similar to those used at Radioactive Ion Beam facilities. Here we present a full characterization of the trap and demonstrate motional frequency measurements of trapped ions stored by applying external radiofrequency fields in resonance with the ions' eigenmotions, in combination with time-of-flight identification. The infrastructure developed to observe the fluorescence photons from 40 Ca + , comprising the 12 laser beams and the optical system to register the image in a high-sensitive CCD sensor, has been proved by taking images of the trapped and cooled 40 Ca + ions. This demonstrates the functionality of the proposed laser-based mass-spectrometry technique, providing a unique platform for precision experiments with implications in different fields of physics.

Non-equilibrium Coupling of a Quartz Resonator to Ions for Penning-Trap Fast Resonant Detection

“…The experiments reported here have been carried out with the TRAPSENSOR openring Penning trap [18] and the quartz amplifier described in Ref. [9].…”

Dynamics of an unbalanced two-ion crystal in a Penning trap for application in optical mass spectrometry

“…The setup is described in Ref. [13]. ∆ν is the frequency difference with respect to ν S 0 →P 1 ( 40 Ca + ), due to the isotopic shift.…”

“…Such experiments require also sympathetic cooling of the SHE with the laser-cooled 40 Ca + ion. At present, heavy ions have been already captured in the open-ring trap [13], and the cooling of a few 40 Ca + ions produced outside this trap, has been demonstrated. Additional applications of this new approach may arise once this cooling has been accomplished.…”

“…In this publication, we present the results from numerical and analytical calculations of the dynamics of an unbalanced two-ion crystal in a 7-tesla Penning trap [13]. The outcomes from the calculations can be combined with the optical response of the sensor ion after applying external fields in resonance with the motional modes of the crystal.…”

“…Besides sensitivity, using the optical control, an improvement in precision and accuracy is envisaged, so as to carry out mass measurements, for example on 187 Re + and 187 Os + [16], with a competitive level of accuracy in order to contribute to the determination of the mass of the electron antineutrino. Such ions have been already produced in the TRAPSENSOR facility [13,17]. Extending this measurement method to other ion pairs like 163 Ho + -163 Dy + [2] will be also possible.…”