Creation of double-well potentials in a surface-electrode trap towards a nanofriction model emulator

U Tanaka,C Ospelkaus,M Nakamura,T E Mehlstäubler,K Hayasaka,A Bautista-Salvador

doi:10.1088/2058-9565/abe51a

Abstract

We demonstrate a microfabricated surface-electrode ion trap that is applicable as a nanofriction emulator and studies of many-body dynamics of interacting systems. The trap enables both single-well and double-well trapping potentials in the radial direction, where the distance between the two potential wells can be adjusted by the applied RF voltage. In the double-well configuration, parallel ion strings can be formed, which is a suitable system for the emulation of the Frenkel–Kontorova (FK) model. We derive the condition under which the trap functions as an FK model emulator. The trap is designed so that the Coulomb interaction between two ion strings becomes significant. We report on the microfabrication process for such downsized trap electrodes and experimental results of single-well and double-well operation with calcium ions. With the trap demonstrated in this work we can create atomically accessible, self-assembled Coulomb systems with a wide tuning range of the corrugation parameter in the FK model. This makes it a promising system for quantum simulations, but also for the study of nanofriction in one and higher dimensional systems.

Highlights

Trapped atomic ions are a well-isolated and controllable system that can be used to model a physical system of interest and to investigate the physics of large and computationally intractable systems
In the case of an infinite system of incommensurate periodicities, a transition from sliding to stick-slip motion occurs, which is known as the Aubry transition [19]. The behavior of such a system is characterized by the corrugation parameter which is defined as η =2 [6, 8–10], where ωint is the frequency of vibration of an ion in a potential generated by an adjacent ion string and ω0 is the frequency of vibration in a potential produced by ions in the same string
We have discussed an application of a microfabricated ion trap that produces a doublewell potential to implement a nanofriction emulator

Summary

Introduction

Trapped atomic ions are a well-isolated and controllable system that can be used to model a physical system of interest and to investigate the physics of large and computationally intractable systems. Harmonic chains in a corrugation potential were emulated by using an ion string in an optical lattice [7] and a zig-zag ion configuration in a three-dimensional linear Paul trap [9, 10] The latter system makes use of the Coulomb interaction between two rows of ions, it includes the effect of back-action from the other “surface”. We report on a novel ion trap produced with an improved fabrication process that allows down-sizing our design With this micro-engineered surface-electrode trap coupling neighboring ion strings in a controlled way becomes possible. We calculate the Coulomb potential generated by parallel ion strings in our trap and show that the system is applicable to a nanofriction emulator. As the VcRF /VRF ratio increases, the field from the centre-RF to the electrode becomes effective and the two parallel nodal lines form near the trap surface.

Ion Trapping

Nanofriction emulator

Conclusions