Improvement of Laser Cooling of Ions in a Penning Trap by use of the Axialisation Technique

H. F. Powell, S. R. de Echaniz, E. S. Phillips, D. M. Segal, R. C. Thompson

Published 2002-11-05, updated 2003-01-23Version 2

We report a study of the axialisation and laser cooling of single ions and small clouds of ions in a Penning trap. A weak radiofrequency signal applied to a segmented ring electrode couples the magnetron motion to the cyclotron motion, which results in improved laser cooling of the magnetron motion. This allows us to approach the trapping conditions of a Paul trap, but without any micromotion. Using an ICCD camera we show that the motion of a single ion can be confined to dimensions of the order of 10 $\mu$m. We have measured increased magnetron cooling rates using an rf-photon correlation technique. For certain laser cooling conditions, the magnetron motion of the centre of mass of the cloud grows and stabilises at a large value. This results in the ions orbiting the centre of the trap together in a small cloud, as confirmed by photon-photon correlation measurements.