Is a three dimension ion cloud good for something?

IQOQI Quantum Seminar

Laser-cooled trapped ions in radio-frequency traps are among the best controlled quantum system. The ultimate precision reached in the control of their internal and external state is illustrated in the optical clocks based on single ions (or couple of ions) and in the quantum simulations and computations processed on few ions or a chain of ions. Nevertheless, large ion clouds remain a very relevant choice when a large number of emitters are required like for microwave frequency standards or quantum optics in the large cooperative regime. In our group, we are exploring a midway between optical and microwave spectroscopy, through THz spectroscopy based on coherent population trapping in a 3D laser ion cloud [1]. In this experiment, the ion cloud can be regarded as a non-neutral plasma and we can take benefit of the different spectrocopy processes to study statistical properties that are otherwise very difficult to measure, like self-diffusion [2].
In most experiments involving an extended ion cloud, the heating induced by the micromotion driven by the radiofrequency field is a drawback that tends to be avoided. We are developing a prototype of a detector [3] that takes advantage of this heating [4] to turn a drawback into a tool that can give us a lot of information about the stopping power of such strongly correlated non-neutral plasmas.

[1] Experimental Demonstration of Three-Photon Coherent Population Trapping in an Ion Cloud, M. Collombon, et. al , Phys. Rev. Applied 12, 034035 (2019)
[2] Self-diffusion in a strongly coupled non-neutral plasma, M. Baldovin et. al Phys. Rev. A 109, 043116 (2024)
[3] Non-destructive detection of large molecules without mass limitation, A. Poindron, et. al, Chem. Phys. 154, 184203 (2021)
[4] Thermal bistability in laser-cooled trapped ions, A. Poindron et. al, Phys. Rev. A 108, 013109 (2023)

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