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Updated: Dec 2, 2025

Experimental Methods for Trapping Ions Using Microfabricated Surface Ion Traps
Published on: August 17, 2017
Planar, strong magnetic field source for a chip ion trap
Jonathan Pinder1, John H Lacy2, Ryan Willetts1
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sussex, Falmer BN1 9QH, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
We present a planar, scalable magnetic field source, originally conceived for a chip ion trap. It consists of two symmetric sections, each with several independent currents arranged in coplanar, concentric rectangular loops. The currents allow for tuning the strength of the field and its lowest-order derivatives at one discretional position along the source's vertical symmetry axis, a few mm above its surface. We describe the construction and calibration of the device and the cryogenic setup. The two most important current configurations for a Penning ion trap, the homogeneous field and the magnetic bottle, are investigated experimentally. Homogeneous fields around 0.5 T are routinely reached. We discuss the maximum attainable field, and we briefly describe ongoing further developments aiming at homogeneous fields well above 1 T.
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