Resonant photo-ionization of Yb+ to Yb2+

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a controlled method to create Yb2+ ions from Yb+ ions using resonant photo-ionization with weak UV lasers, enabling advanced studies of Yb2+ physics.

Contribution

It introduces a resonant, multi-step photo-ionization technique to produce Yb2+ ions from Yb+ ions in a controlled manner.

Findings

Successful creation of Yb2+ ions from Yb+ ions.

Characterization of the resulting mixed-species ion crystal.

Verification of the ionization process through ion-crystal properties.

Abstract

We demonstrate the controlled creation of a $\mathrm{^{174}Yb^{2+}}$ ion by photo-ionizing $\mathrm{^{174}Yb^+}$ with weak continuous-wave lasers at ultraviolet wavelengths. The photo-ionization is performed by resonantly exciting transitions of the $\mathrm{^{174}Yb^+}$ ion in three steps. Starting from an ion crystal of two laser-cooled $\mathrm{^{174}Yb^+}$ ions localized in a radio-frequency trap, the verification of the ionization process is performed by characterizing the properties of the resulting mixed-species ion-crystal. The obtained results facilitate fundamental studies of physics involving $\mathrm{Yb^{2+}}$ ions.