Nanoparticle Stored with an Atomic Ion in a Linear Paul Trap.

Area of Science:

• Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
• Nanotechnology
• Quantum Information Science

Background:

• Radiofrequency (RF) traps are essential for controlled interactions of charged particles, enabling applications like quantum logic spectroscopy.
• A key limitation of RF traps is their charge-to-mass (Q/m) selectivity, restricting simultaneous confinement of particles with vastly different Q/m ratios.
• Overcoming this selectivity is crucial for advancing fields such as antimatter synthesis and macroscopic quantum phenomena.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate simultaneous confinement of a nanoparticle and an atomic ion in a single RF trap, despite a six-orders-of-magnitude difference in their Q/m ratios.
• To develop and validate a novel dual-frequency voltage method for achieving this broad Q/m confinement.
• To investigate the stability and localization mechanisms of the co-confined diverse charged particles.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a dual-frequency voltage applied to RF trap electrodes to overcome Q/m selectivity.
• Developed a robust loading procedure for introducing both a nanoparticle and an atomic ion into the trap under ultrahigh vacuum.
• Characterized particle stability and localization, identifying the role of slow-field micromotion in ion positioning.

Main Results:

• Successfully confined a nanoparticle and an atomic ion with a six-orders-of-magnitude difference in Q/m within the same RF trap.
• Demonstrated the critical role of slow-field micromotion, a phenomenon specific to dual-field trapping, in achieving stable ion localization.
• Confirmed the stability of both co-confined particle species.

Conclusions:

• The dual-frequency RF trap technique effectively overcomes traditional Q/m limitations for particle confinement.
• This method opens new possibilities for controlled interactions between macroscopic and microscopic charged objects.
• The findings pave the way for experiments in antimatter synthesis, quantum simulation, and the generation of macroscopic quantum states.