Abstract
ABSTRACTCoulomb crystals are ordered structures of spatially-localised ions, held within an ion trap and exhibiting very low translational temperatures. The many advantages of studying the spectroscopic, kinetic and dynamic properties of gas phase ions in Coulomb crystals – such as the ability to manipulate and detect single ions under ultrahigh vacuum conditions – have seen their adoption in an ever-expanding range of fields. This article provides an overview of recent developments, where Coulomb crystals have been utilised for precision measurements, for the study of controlled ion-neutral reactions and in the implementation of quantum information science.
Highlights
The term ‘Coulomb crystal’ refers to an ordered array of translationally cold ions held within a trap
Advances in ion trapping and laser cooling methods over the past several decades have been crucial in the preparation of increasingly diverse and complex molecular ions within Coulomb crystals [7,8,9,10,11]
Coulomb crystals provide us with an ideal medium for studying precision measurements and monitoring slow reaction processes over extended timescales
Summary
The term ‘Coulomb crystal’ refers to an ordered array of translationally cold ions held within a trap. Whilst molecular ions cannot usually be laser cooled due to their complex energy level structures, ionic species that are not amenable to laser cooling can be sympathetically cooled by elastic collisions with laser-cooled species. In this way, multi-component Coulomb crystals can be generated – as first experimentally demonstrated in 2000 [6]. Medium for studying precision measurements and monitoring slow reaction processes over extended timescales (with ions able to be trapped for hours, or even days) It is this absence of contaminant species, combined with single-ion detection sensitivity, that is enabling. The findings presented in these previous publications need no further discussion here; instead of reflecting on what has been done in the past, this article seeks to provide a new perspective – highlighting some of the exciting research that is happening and proposing what the future of the field might look like
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