TY - JOUR
T1 - Kinetics of a single trapped ion in an ultracold buffer gas
AU - Zipkes, Christoph
AU - Ratschbacher, Lothar
AU - Sias, Carlo
AU - Kohl, Michael
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - The immersion of a single ion confined by a radiofrequency trap in an ultracold atomic gas extends the concept of buffer gas cooling to a new temperature regime. The steady state energy distribution of the ion is determined by its kinetics in the radiofrequency field rather than the temperature of the buffer gas. Moreover, the finite size of the ultracold gas facilitates the observation of back-action of the ion onto the buffer gas. We numerically investigate the system's properties depending on atom-ion mass ratio, trap geometry, differential cross-section, and non-uniform neutral atom density distribution. Experimental results are well reproduced by our model considering only elastic collisions. We identify excess micromotion to set the typical scale for the ion energy statistics and explore the applicability of the mobility collision cross-section to the ultracold regime.
AB - The immersion of a single ion confined by a radiofrequency trap in an ultracold atomic gas extends the concept of buffer gas cooling to a new temperature regime. The steady state energy distribution of the ion is determined by its kinetics in the radiofrequency field rather than the temperature of the buffer gas. Moreover, the finite size of the ultracold gas facilitates the observation of back-action of the ion onto the buffer gas. We numerically investigate the system's properties depending on atom-ion mass ratio, trap geometry, differential cross-section, and non-uniform neutral atom density distribution. Experimental results are well reproduced by our model considering only elastic collisions. We identify excess micromotion to set the typical scale for the ion energy statistics and explore the applicability of the mobility collision cross-section to the ultracold regime.
U2 - 10.1088/1367-2630/13/5/053020/meta
DO - 10.1088/1367-2630/13/5/053020/meta
M3 - Article
VL - 13
JO - New Journal of Physics
JF - New Journal of Physics
ER -