Abstract
We report the design and experimental demonstration of a compact, reconfigurable Penning ion trap constructed with rare-earth permanent magnets placed outside of a trap vacuum enclosure. We describe the observation of Doppler laser cooling of ions in a permanent magnet Penning trap. We detail a method for quantifying and optimizing the trap magnetic-field uniformity in situ using a thermal beam of neutral precursor atoms. Doppler laser cooling of is carried out at 0.65 T, and side-view images of trapped ion fluorescence show crystalline order for both two- and three-dimensional arrays. Measured trap frequencies confirm the magnetic-field characterization with neutral . The compact trap described here enables a variety of cold ion experiments with low size, weight, power, and cost requirements relative to traditional electromagnet-based Penning traps.
- Received 4 September 2019
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.101.013408
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