A Compact, Reconfigurable Penning Trap for Quantum Applications
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McMahon, Brian Joseph
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Abstract
Penning ion traps are versatile tools for studying atomic and molecular physics. They use static electric and magnetic fields to confine charged particles in 3-dimensional space. Most Penning traps employ a magnetic field produced by a large superconducting coil. However, in this thesis I detail the design and creation of compact, reconfigurable permanent magnet Penning trap based on rare earth permanent magnets instead of a superconducting coil [1]. For the first time in a permanent magnet trap, I demonstrate Doppler laser cooling of 40Ca+
and 9Be+. I perform magnetic gradiometry across the trap region using transport of an ion crystal to probe different positions. The magnetic field is found directly by implementing a spin flip across the ground state Zeeman-shifted levels. The magnetic field uniformity and temporal stability are each measured to a precision of ∼ 10 ppb, demonstrating the quality of the magnetic field environment.
Beryllium ions are co-trapped with calcium ions, which serve as a sympathetic coolant.
This enables long integration times for measurement of the beryllium ions’ hyperfine structure. The nearest magnetic-field-insensitive (clock) transition of 9Be+ is probed for up to 0.5 s with no observed loss of coherence. However, several challenges remain for working with 9Be+ as an atomic clock ion. Planned improvements to the system are discussed.
[1] McMahon, B. J., Volin, C., Rellergert, W. G. & Sawyer, B. C. Doppler-cooled ions in a
compact reconfigurable Penning trap. Phys. Rev. A 101, 013408 (2020).
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2021-07-29
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Dissertation