The Mechanical Paul Trap: Introducing the Concept of Ion Trapping
Sebastian Kilde Lofgren, Ricardo M\'endez Fragoso, Jonathan Weidow,, Jonas Enger
TL;DR
This paper introduces a 3D-printed mechanical version of the Paul trap, providing educational resources including printable files and simulation code to demonstrate ion trapping principles.
Contribution
It presents a novel, accessible physical model of the Paul trap along with simulation tools, facilitating hands-on learning and experimentation.
Findings
Successful construction of a 3D-printed trap
Simulation accurately models ion trapping behavior
Educational impact for physics students
Abstract
Nobel laureate Wolfgang Paul showed, back in the 1950s, that charged particles can be trapped using alternating electric fields. This technique is commonly referred to as Paul traps or radiofrequency traps (RF-traps) and is used in various areas of modern physics. This paper presents a 3D-printed mechanical Paul trap, a na\"ive simulation of the system in Python, and student investigations. The files for the 3D-printed trap are available for download and print, and the code for the simulation is available to run and tinker with.
Peer Reviews
No public reviews on file for this paper yet. If you reviewed it on a platform where reviews are public (OpenReview, ICLR, NeurIPS, ICML), you can paste yours below so the community can read it here.
Videos
No videos yet. Explain this paper in a talk, walkthrough, or lecture? Add one.
Taxonomy
TopicsRadioactive Decay and Measurement Techniques · Experimental and Theoretical Physics Studies · Mass Spectrometry Techniques and Applications