Trapped ions in an ultracold gas: buffer gas cooling and chemical reactions

ORAL

Abstract

Hybrid ion-atom systems combine the benefits of a single, well-controlled ion with those of a many-body quantum gas, offering prospects for quantum simulation, ultracold chemistry, and charged impurity physics. In this talk I will present recent experiments, where we observed collisions between Li₂ dimers and a single Yb+ ion, leading to the formation of a LiYb+ molecular ion [1]. Our results show a new method for molecular ion formation and for probing an atom cloud for small quantities of dimers. Furthermore, I will present numerical simulations for cooling our system further into the quantum regime [2]. Ion trap parameter optimization will allow buffer gas cooling to energies competitive with some sub-Doppler laser cooling techniques, reaching atom-ion collision energies twice as cold as previous experiments [3].

[1] H. Hirzler et al. arXiv:2110.14475 (2021)

[2] E. Trimby et al. arXiv:2109.15195 (2021)

[3] T. Feldker et al. Nat. Phys. 4, 16 (2020)

*This work was supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research Vidi Grant 680-47-538 and Start-up grant 740.018.008, Vrije Programma 680.92.18.05, Quantum Software Consortium programme 024.003.037 and Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant No 895473.

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Publication: H. Hirzler et al. arXiv:2110.14475 (2021)
E. Trimby et al. arXiv:2109.15195 (2021)

Presenters

  • Eleanor Trimby

    • IoP, University of Amsterdam

Authors

  • Eleanor Trimby

    • IoP, University of Amsterdam

  • Henrik Hirzler

    • IoP, University of Amsterdam

  • Henning A Fürst

    • Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt

  • Jesus Perez Rios

    • Department of Physics, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794, USA
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Stony Brook University; Fritz-Haber Institute
    • Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Stony Brook University
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
    • Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft; IMM, Radboud University; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Stony Brook University
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Stony Brook University; Fritz-Haber-Institute
    • Department of Physics and Astromy, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA

  • Arghavan Safavi-Naini

    • QuSoft, Amsterdam
    • University of Amsterdam, QuSoft

  • Rianne S Lous

    • IoP, University of Amsterdam

  • Rene Gerritsma

    • IoP, University of Amsterdam; QuSoft, Amsterdam
    • University of Amsterdam, QuSoft