Trapping Ion Coulomb Crystals in an Optical Lattice

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the successful optical trapping of ion Coulomb crystals in a one-dimensional optical lattice, enhancing stability and eigenfrequency, and paving the way for advanced quantum simulations with long-range interactions.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method for trapping multiple ions in an optical lattice, significantly improving stability and eigenfrequency compared to previous techniques.

Findings

Fivefold increase in robustness against electric fields

Two orders of magnitude increase in axial eigenfrequency

Potential for larger, more complex ion arrays for quantum simulation

Abstract

We report the optical trapping of multiple ions localized at individual lattice sites of a one-dimensional optical lattice. We observe a fivefold increase in robustness against axial DC-electric fields and an increase of the axial eigenfrequency by two orders of magnitude compared to an optical dipole trap without interference but similar intensity. Our findings motivate an alternative pathway to extend arrays of trapped ions in size and dimension, enabling quantum simulations with particles interacting at long range.