Laser cooling of trapped Yb+

¹⁷²Yb⁺ ions in an rf trap have been laser cooled for the first time by driving the ² S _1/2–² P _1/2 transition at 369.5 nm. It was necessary to irradiate the ions with 2.438 m infra-red radiation to depopulate the metastable ² D _3/2 state. An upper limit on ion energies was determined by observing the size of the trapped cloud and corresponds to a temperature below 2 K. Cooled ion lineshapes were compared with simulations and coherence nulls were observed in the infra-red frequency scans.     

Anharmonic oscillation of ions trapped in a rf trap with light buffer gas

The effect of a light buffer gas on the anharmonic oscillation of ions trapped in a rf trap is studied. The rf resonance absorption signals showed a change of the signal height and the hysteresis with the sweep direction of the dc voltage or the probing frequency due to the anharmonicity of the pseudopotential well of a rf trap. It was found that the signals changed drastically or even disappeared depending on the pressure of buffer gas, although almost the same number of ions were trapped. These effects indicate that the sensitivity of detection of the trapped ions can be improved by appropriately choosing the pressure of the buffer gas and the sweep direction. The trapped ions could be detected until 76 h 20 min and the storage time of 1.3×10⁵ s was determined when these parameters were optimized.     

Sub-Hertz optical frequency comparisons between two trapped 171Yb+ ions

We compare the frequencies of the 6s2S(1/2)(F = 0)-->5d2D(3/2)(F = 2) reference transition in 171Yb+ for two single ions stored in independent traps. The quadrupole moment of the 5d2D(3/2) state is measured to be 9.32(48) x 10(-40) C m2 and from the quadratic Stark shift the relevant scalar and tensor polarizabilities are determined to be alphaS(S(1/2)) - alphaS(D(3/2)) = -6.9(1.4) x 10(-40) J m2/V2 and alphaT(D(3/2)) = -13.6(2.2) x 10(-40) J m2/V2, respectively. In the absence of external perturbations we find a mean frequency difference between the two trapped ions of 0.26(42) Hz, corresponding to a relative difference of 3.8(6.1) x 10(-16). This is comparable to the agreement found in the most accurate comparisons between cesium fountain clocks.     

Quantum chaos of an ion trapped in a linear ion trap

We describe the transition to quantum chaos of an ion trapped in a linear ion trap and interacting with two laser fields. Under the conditions of adiabatic illumination of the upper level of the ion, and when the frequencies of the two laser beams are slightly different, the system is reduced to a quantum linear oscillator interacting with a monochromatic wave. The property of localization over the quantum resonance cells is proposed to exploit in order to facilitate the process of measurement of the probability distribution of an ion on the vibrational levels. In the regime of strong chaos the time-averaged values of the energy and dispersion of energy are computed and compared with the corresponding classical quantities for different values of the perturbation amplitude. In the exact resonance case, the classical analog of the system possesses an infinite inhomogeneous stochastic web. We analyze the quantum dynamics inside the inhomogeneous web. It is shown that the quantum system mimics on average the dynamics of the corresponding classical system. Formation of the quantum resonance cells is illustrated in the case of a finite detuning from the exact resonance, and under increasing of the wave amplitude. The parameters of the model and the initial conditions are close to the real physical situation which can be realized in the system of cold trapped ion perturbed by two lasers fields with close frequencies. (c) 2000 American Institute of Physics.     

Laser cooling of 171Yb+ ions in a linear paul trap

We report laser cooling of trapped ¹⁷¹Yb⁺ ions. The ions are confined in a linear Paul trap. Temperatures below 1 K have been achieved, and evidence of a phase transition to a crystal-like state has been observed. The metastable ² D _3/2 level is drained using a transition at 609.1 nm not previously used for this purpose. Laser cooling of ¹⁷¹Yb⁺ may be of importance to the development of new microwave frequency standards.     

线形离子阱囚禁199Hg＋实验的光学系统设计

利用Zemax软件为线形离子阱囚禁199 Hg＋实验设计了一套光学系统,该系统包括两部分,即光学激发系统和荧光收集系统。光学激发系统由202 H g无极谱灯和激发透镜组组成。激发透镜组将202 Hg无极谱灯的直径为15 mm的圆形面光源整形成23 mm ×4 mm的矩形光去激发199 H g＋能级跃迁,从而使其辐射出荧光,再利用荧光收集系统去收集该荧光。荧光收集系统由收集透镜组、滤波片和光电倍增管组成。设计结果表明：该收集透镜组可以很好地将荧光发光面成像在直径为23 m m的光电倍增管上,具有较高的荧光收集效率,约3％。经物理系统实验,结果表明,该光学系统满足实验要求且具有较高的信噪比,其值约为20。这为高性能线形199 H g＋微波频标的工程应用提供了基础。     

Doppler effects due to thermal macromotion of ions in an rf quadrupole trap

The second-order Doppler shift is an important source of systematic error in rf quadrupole trapped ion frequency standards. This shift can be reduced by cooling the secular motion of the ion cloud with a light background gas at low pressure. Using a thermalized ion cloud model, it is possible to relate the Doppler shift to the temperature of the ion cloud. It is shown that, in practice, the measured frequency of the first-order Doppler sidebands can be used to determine the ion cloud temperature.     

Observation of three-dimensional long-range order in small ion coulomb crystals in an rf trap

Three-dimensional long-range ordered structures in smaller and near-spherically symmetric Coulomb crystals of (40)Ca(+) ions confined in a linear rf Paul trap have been observed when the number of ions exceeds approximately 1,000 ions. This result is unexpected from ground state molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, but found to be in agreement with MD simulations of metastable ion configurations. Previously, three-dimensional long-range ordered structures have only been reported in Penning traps in systems of approximately 50,000 ions or more.     

Paul阱中囚禁的低能Ar2+离子与Ar的电荷转移

在Paul阱中产生并选择囚禁了单一的Ar2 离子,得到低能Ar2 与Ar的电荷转移速率系数为5.84(0.677)×10-10cm3·s-1及其零氩气压强下的离子衰减速率为0.46 s-1,为下一步进行多电荷离子的亚稳态寿命研究提供了有价值的实验参考数据.     

Tomographic rf spectroscopy of a trapped Fermi gas at unitarity

We present spatially resolved radio-frequency spectroscopy of a trapped Fermi gas with resonant interactions and observe a spectral gap at low temperatures. The spatial distribution of the spectral response of the trapped gas is obtained using in situ phase-contrast imaging and 3D image reconstruction. At the lowest temperature, the homogeneous rf spectrum shows an asymmetric excitation line shape with a peak at 0.48(4)epsilonF with respect to the free atomic line, where epsilonF is the local Fermi energy.     

A simple method for counting the number of trapped ions in an ion trap

A technique is proposed for injection-seeding control of tunable lasers. It is based on a combination of successive external injection and intracavity self-injection of radiation when the active medium is pumped by dual-step pulses. The technique is tested both experimentally (in the case of Nd:YAG-laser-pumped pulsed dye lasers) and numerically, using a model developed by us. Full conversion of the broadband spectrum into the injected line is achieved for an output energy greater by a factor of about 50 than that managed by means of the traditional injection-seeding technique under identical conditions.     

Optical probing of Eu ions confined in an RF trap

The Eu ions confined in an RF quadrupole trap, has been optically detected. Using a tunable dye laser which is pumped by a Nd-YAG pulsed laser system, the resonance ⁹S₄^9S_4–6p _3/2, J = 5 transition of the Eu ions have been excited and the resulting fluorescence to the metastable ⁹D_4-6^9D_{4-6} state has been detected. In preparation to determine the ground-state hyperfine splitting of the odd isotopes we found the optimum trapping operating point. We have also observed a number of instabilities inside the region of the stability for an ideal trap. These non-linear resonances arise from higher-order contributions to the ideal quadrupole potential.     

Optical characterization of Er3+and Yb3+ co-doped barium fluorotellurite glass

Spectroscopic studies of Er³⁺/Yb³⁺ co-doped (Ba,La)-fluorotellurite glass composition have been carried out using standard experimental and theoretical methods. Quantitative analyses of the room temperature absorption and emission spectra as well as the emission lifetimes yield various important spectroscopic parameters such as the radiative decay rates, fluorescence branching ratios, and emission/absorption cross sections. In addition, internal radiative quantum yields have been determined for the infrared emission at 1571 nm and for the upconversion emission at 547 nm. The influence of various non-radiative properties such as multiphonon relaxation, concentration quenching, and quenching by hydroxyl radicals have also been quantitatively estimated and correlated with the observed spectral properties. The comparative studies with the other composition of tellurite and different glasses showed that present glass composition could be a potential candidate for the broadband amplifier.     

A single trapped ion in a finite range trap

This paper presents a method to describe dynamics of an ion confined in a realistic finite range trap. We model this realistic potential with a solvable one and we obtain dynamical variables (raising and lowering operators) of this potential. We consider coherent interaction of this confined ion in a finite range trap and we show that its center-of-mass motion steady state is a special kind of nonlinear coherent states. Physical properties of this state and their dependence on the finite range of potential are studied.     

Performance of a prototype microwave frequency standard based on laser-detected,trapped171Yb+ ions

A microwave frequency standard based on buffer gas-cooled¹⁷¹Yb⁺ ions confined in a linear Paul trap has been demonstrated in prototype form. The standard exhibits a fractional frequency instability characterised by an Allan deviation of (_y() = 2.9 × 10^–13–1/2 for < 2 × 10⁴ s. Factors affecting the stability of the standard have been systematically investigated.     

Optimization of the Readout Fidelity of the Quantum State of an Optical Qubit in the 171Yb+ Ion

JETP Letters - A scheme based on a laser cooling system has been proposed to detect the state of an optical qubit in the 171Yb+&nbsp;ion. Analytical expressions have been derived for the...     

Analytical calculation of the space charge potential and the temperature of stored ions in an rf quadrupole trap

The use of a stored ion cloud in an rf quadrupole trap has shown its possibilities as a high-performance frequency standard. The most important source of systematic error of such a standard is the second-order Doppler shift, an effect of special relativity, which produces a relative frequency shift approximated by the ratio of the mean kinetic energy to the rest mass energy of an ion. Assuming that the ion cloud can be characterized by a temperatureT, the determination ofT is of paramount importance in evaluating the second-order Doppler shift. In this paper, an analytical expression of the ion-cloud temperature is established taking space-charge effects into account and involving only physical parameters which can be easily measured. The validity of this approximate expression is discussed and it is compared to numerically established results published elsewhere.     

Entanglement of three-level trapped ions with phonon trap modes

The entanglement between a single electron in the electronic states of a trapped three-level ion and the ionic vibrational modes of the trap is studied for an initially unentangled state of an electron level and a coherent phonon state. The effects of time-independent and time-dependent couplings are discussed.