Rapid Cooling of the In-Plane Motion of Two-Dimensional Ion Crystals in a Penning Trap to millikelvin Temperatures

Published

February 27, 2024

Author(s)

Wes Johnson, Athreya Shankar, John Zaris, John J. Bollinger, Scott Parker

Abstract

A two-dimensional planar crystal of ions stored in a Penning trap offers an attractive platform for quantum sensing and simulation protocols using hundreds of ions. However, recent work indicates that poorly cooled in-plane motion leads to significant excess potential energy fluctuations in the crystal, which can adversely impact the fidelity of these protocols. Here, we propose a highly feasible technique with no experimental overhead to significantly improve the planar laser cooling. Through simulations, we demonstrate a resonant mode coupling technique that can enable cooling of the planar motion to a temperature of around 1 mK in less than 10 ms. This is in contrast to typically used experimental conditions, where our simulations of the laser cooling dynamics suggest that the ion crystal's planar motion cools on a timescale of several hundreds of milliseconds, a rate likely slower than experimental heating rates. This work sets the stage for sub-Doppler laser cooling of the planar motion and more robust quantum science experiments with two-dimensional crystals in Penning traps.

Citation

Physical Review A (Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics)

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.109.L021102

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Keywords

ExB modes, laser cooling, Penning tap, quantum sensing, quantum simulation, two-dimensional crystals

Citation

Johnson, W. , Shankar, A. , Zaris, J. , Bollinger, J. and Parker, S. (2024), Rapid Cooling of the In-Plane Motion of Two-Dimensional Ion Crystals in a Penning Trap to millikelvin Temperatures, Physical Review A (Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics), [online], https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.109.L021102, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=956906 (Accessed October 13, 2025)