High-resolution collision energy control through ion position modulation in atom-ion hybrid systems

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel ion shuttling method within a radio-frequency trap to precisely control atom-ion collision energies, achieving high resolution experimentally and in simulations, with potential applications in molecular ion chemistry.

Contribution

The paper presents a new technique for high-resolution ion energy control via ion position modulation, demonstrated experimentally and through simulations, surpassing existing methods in resolution and range.

Findings

Experimental control of ion energies from 0.05-1 K with ~10 resolution

Simulations show potential for up to 120 K energies with ~100 resolution

Proof-of-principle chemistry experiment validates the technique

Abstract

We demonstrate an ion shuttling technique for high-resolution control of atom-ion collision energy by translating an ion held within a radio-frequency trap through a magneto-optical atom trap. The technique is demonstrated both experimentally and through numerical simulations, with the experimental results indicating control of ion kinetic energies from $0.05-1$ K with a fractional resolution of $\sim10$ and the simulations demonstrating that kinetic energy control up to $120$ K with a maximum predicted resolution of $\sim100$ is possible, offering order-of-magnitude improvements over most alternative techniques. Lastly, we perform a proof-of-principle chemistry experiment using this technique and outline how the method may be refined in the future and applied to the study of molecular ion chemistry.