Questions tagged [ion-traps]
33 questions
111
votes
7 answers
How can we see an atom now? What was the scale of this equipment?
I've just seen this on the news - Single Trapped Atom Captures Science Photography Competition's top prize.
Credit: David Nadlinger via EPSRC
I am not a Physics major but I believe I do know the basics. I have always believed that we can't really…
Hanky Panky
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15
votes
2 answers
Can two atoms be a crystal?
In the physics literature, you can often find the term "two-ion crystal", when talking about two ions that are confined in a e.g. Paul trap. How is this possible? Shouldn't a crystal be a structure which repeats in space multiple (>2) times?…
m137
- 1,241
13
votes
0 answers
A beautiful ion-trap proposal for Boson Sampling: what are its limitations?
A very beautiful recent paper,
Scalable Implementation of Boson Sampling with Trapped Ions. C. Shen, Z. Zhang, and L.-M. Duan. Phys. Rev. Lett. 112 no. 5, 050504 (2014); arXiv:1310.4860
describes a proposal of an experimental realization of Boson…
Emilio Pisanty
- 137,480
12
votes
1 answer
How can one recover the classical frequency-modulation Bessel sidebands from a quantum emitter in a harmonic well?
Consider an atom that emits at frequency $\omega_0$ that's located at a position $x$ that moves under the influence of a harmonic oscillator at frequency $\nu$. In both classical and quantum physics, the Doppler shift induced by the motion on the…
Emilio Pisanty
- 137,480
7
votes
1 answer
Why are ytterbium atoms used for quantum computing?
Ytterbium seems to be the favorite for element for trapped ion quantum computing experiments. Why is this?
fyodrpetrovich
- 594
6
votes
4 answers
Is fluorescence from a single atom/ion visible with the naked eye (e.g. in a strongly coupled trap or cavity)
I remember sitting in on a conference talk by a person (possibly Rainer Blatt) doing research with trapped ions (or single atoms strongly coupled to light in an optical cavity), and the person showed a photo of the trap with dots of light from the…
Punk_Physicist
- 2,948
6
votes
1 answer
What is the advantage of segmented particle traps?
I'm currently trying to familiarize myself with the physics of ion and particle traps, especially with linear Paul traps. Many scientific experiments I've come across use segmented electrodes (like in this image from a Nature article). My question…
Sentry
- 61
5
votes
1 answer
Real-Life RLC circuit - why so lopsided?
I am using a superconducting $RLC$-circuit for detecting weak electrical signals. The center-frequency is around 650 kHz, and the $Q$-value approximately 50k. I am trying to better understand my signal background. Without the signal source, the…
Martin J.H.
- 1,637
4
votes
1 answer
Quadrupole potential generation in Paul traps
I am currently getting familiar with the concept of the Paul trap and the underlying physical principles. I do understand what kind of potentials are needed to trap charged particles, e.g. for the 3D paul trap or the quadrupole mass filter. However,…
Wylde
- 193
3
votes
2 answers
Ion Traps for "Hot" atoms
I have been researching ion traps (of singular atoms) recently and have become curious about neutral atom trapping and in particular if it is possible to trap neutral atoms while they are "hot". Furthermore, I wonder if it is possible that a "hot"…
user371346
3
votes
1 answer
The hamiltonian of single trapped ion model: ion trap quantum computer
This question is related to the textbook, "Quantum Computation and Quantum Information written by M. A. Nielsen and I. L. Chuang.
I tried to derive a relation when we deal with a model system where a single ion is trapped. (page 317-318)
The free…
Patche
- 421
2
votes
1 answer
Does Earnshaw's theorem apply to electrostatic + gravitational systems?
I've been learning about particle traps and Earnshaw's theorem. When dealing purely with electrostatic forces the theorem makes intuitive sense to me. But does it really apply to systems involving gravity AND electrostatic forces? According to…
articpenguin
- 55
2
votes
1 answer
What is the electrical potential of a quadrupole ion trap?
I learned from Wikipedia that the quadrupolar potential $\phi$ of a quadrupole ion trap is
\begin{equation}
\phi = \frac{\phi_0}{r_0^2}(\lambda x^2 + \sigma y^2 + \gamma z^2)
\end{equation}
where $r_0$ is a size parameter constant and $\lambda,…
Hou
- 88
2
votes
0 answers
What, exactly, made it difficult to implement the Cirac-Zoller controlled-NOT gate when it was first proposed?
The Cirac-Zoller gate is one of the key tools in the manipulation of quantum information on a string of trapped ions, and its proposal was a huge step in the path of quantum computing from abstract algorithms towards actual hardware in the lab,…
Emilio Pisanty
- 137,480
2
votes
1 answer
Temperature of a trapped particle
How is the temperature of the center of mass of a trapped particle (e.g. in a Paul or Penning trap with laser cooling) defined? I assume it has something to do with the equipartition theorem and Brownian motion, but there are so many "temperatures"…
nabla
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