First principle simulation of ultra-cold ion crystals in a Penning trap with Doppler cooling and a rotating wall potential

Published

July 17, 2019

Author(s)

Chen Tang, Dominic Meiser, John Bollinger, Scott E. Parker

Abstract

A direct numerical simulation of many interacting ions in a Penning trap with a rotating wall is presented. The ion dynamics is modelled classically. Both axial and planar Doppler laser cooling are modeled using stochastic momentum impulses based on two-level atomic scattering rates. The plasmas being modeled are ultra-cold two-dimensional crystals made up of 100's of ions. We compare Doppler cooled results directly to a previous linear eigenmodes analysis. Agreement in both frequency and mode structure are obtained. Additionally, when Doppler laser cooling is applied, the laser cooled steady state plasma axial temperature agrees with the Doppler cooling limit.

Citation

Physics of Plasmas

Volume

26

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

Doppler laser cooling, molecular dynamics simulation, non-neutral plasma, Penning trap, rotating wall, trapped-ion crystals

Citation

Tang, C. , Meiser, D. , Bollinger, J. and Parker, S. (2019), First principle simulation of ultra-cold ion crystals in a Penning trap with Doppler cooling and a rotating wall potential, Physics of Plasmas, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=927649 (Accessed October 8, 2025)