Raman Research Institute - Abstract_Akhil_Ayyadevera

Experiments with fluorescing ions in RF trap

Akhil Ayyadevara 1, Anand Prakash 1, Subodh Vashist 1,

Mohamed Ibrahim 1, Yatheendran K. M.1, E. Krishnakumar 1, S. A. Rangwala 1

1Raman Research Institute, C. V. Raman Avenue, Sadashivanagar, Bangalore 560080,India

The study of Coulomb crystals with laser-cooled trapped ions is a fascinating field with high significance for condensed matter studies[1][2], quantum computing[3], precision spectroscopy[4], etc. Since the spacing between the cold fluorescing ions in the crystal can be as low as a few microns, the imaging optics need to be diffraction-limited with high magnification. I will briefly introduce our fluorescence detection and imaging system. I will briefly explain the phenomenon of quantum jumps and how they help us determine the number of trapped ions. I will demonstrate phase transition in the orientation of the crystal as we change the trap parameters. I will also present a cloud-to-crystal transition of a few ions and pedagogically explain the connection to the laser cooling mechanism.

Figure 1: Fluorescence of a single 40Ca + ion observed on EMCCD

Figure 2: Coulomb crystal of two two 40Ca + ions

References

1. Michael Drewsen, Ion Coulomb crystals, Physica B: Condensed Matter, Volume 460, 2015, Pages 105-113, ISSN 0921-4526, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physb.2014.11.050.

2. Pyka, K., Keller, J., Partner, H. et al. Topological defect formation and spontaneous symmetry breaking in ion Coulomb crystals. Nat Commun 4, 2291 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms3291.

3. Ferdinand Schmidt-Kaler, Hartmut Haffner, Wolfgang Hansel, Stephan Gulde, Mark Riebe, Thomas Deuschle, Jan Benhelm, Gavin P. T. Lancaster, J urgen Eschner, Christoph Becher, Christian F. Roos, and Rainer Blatt. Ion Crystals for Quantum Information Processing. In Laser Spectroscopy, pages 287–294, December 2004.

4. Herschbach, N., Pyka, K., Keller, J. et al., Linear Paul trap design for an optical clock with Coulomb crystals., Appl. Phys. B 107, 891–906 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-011-4790-y