What is it about?
An ion-atom hybrid trap allows simultaneous cooling and trapping of neutral atoms and atomic or molecular ions in the same spatial volume. These traps are a good platform to study ultra-cold interaction between atoms and ions. We have incorporated a high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOFMS) to our ion-atom hybrid trap for the identification of cold reaction products. The trapped ions are radially ejected from the ion trap and detected using a micro-channel plate. We also present some experimental results showing interactions between 39K+ and 39K, 40Ca+ and 39K+, as well as 40Ca+ and 39K pairs. Finally, we discuss prospects for cooling CaH+ molecular ions in the hybrid ion-atom system.
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Why is it important?
We present the design of the ion- atom hybrid trap integrated with a high-resolution mass spectrometer. We observe charge exchange interaction between cold potassium atoms and calcium ions for the first time. The prospects of sympathetic cooling of CaH+ molecular ion in their internal and external degrees of freedom is discussed.
Perspectives
It was a great experience to combine different techniques to build such a hybrid experimental setup. I believe that this experimental setup has great potential to perform several cold ion-atom interaction experiments.
Jyothi Saraladevi
Duke University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: A hybrid ion-atom trap with integrated high resolution mass spectrometer, Review of Scientific Instruments, October 2019, American Institute of Physics,
DOI: 10.1063/1.5121431.
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