Spontaneous nucleation and dynamics of kink defects in zigzag arrays of trapped ions

TL;DR

This study investigates the spontaneous formation and behavior of topological kink defects in trapped ion arrays, comparing experimental results with simulations to understand nucleation rates and dynamics.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed experimental and simulation analysis of kink defect nucleation and dynamics in zigzag ion arrays across the linear-zigzag transition.

Findings

Number of kinks depends on quench rate and ion number.

Losses mask intrinsic nucleation rates, but can be mitigated.

Kink dynamics include motion, configuration change, and varying lifetimes.

Abstract

The spontaneous nucleation and dynamics of topological kink defects have been studied in trapped arrays of 41-43 Yb ions. The number of kinks formed as a function of quench rate across the linear-zigzag transition is measured in the under-damped regime of the inhomogeneous Kibble-Zurek theory. The experimental results agree well with molecular dynamics simulations, which show how losses mask the intrinsic nucleation rate. Simulations indicate that doubling the ion number and optimization of laser cooling can help reduce the effect of losses. A range of kink dynamics is observed including configural change, motion and lifetime, and behavioral sensitivity to ion number.