Open AccessEfficient isotope-selective pulsed laser ablation loading of 174Yb+ ions in a surface electrode trap
Author(s) -
Geert Vrijsen,
Yuhi Aikyo,
Robert Spivey,
I. V. Inlek,
Jungsang Kim
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.27.033907
Subject(s) - ion , materials science , ion trap , electrode , atomic physics , laser ablation , ionization , laser , ablation , trap (plumbing) , analytical chemistry (journal) , optics , chemistry , physics , chromatography , aerospace engineering , organic chemistry , meteorology , engineering
We report a highly efficient loading of 174 Yb + ions in a surface electrode ion trap by using single pulses from a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser to ablate neutral atoms, combined with a two-photon photo-ionization process. The method is three orders of magnitude faster to load a single ion as compared to traditional resistively heated sources and can load large collections of ions in seconds. The negligible thermal load of this method enables the use of this ablation-based loading scheme in ion traps operating under cryogenic conditions.