Multipole electrodynamic ion trap geometries for microparticle confinement under standard ambient temperature and pressure conditions

Abstract

Trapping of microparticles and aerosols is of great interest for physics and chemistry. We report microparticle trapping in case of multipole linear Paul trap geometries, operating under standard ambient temperature and pressure conditions. An 8- and 12-electrode linear trap geometries have been designed and tested with an aim to achieve trapping for larger number of particles and to study microparticle dynamical stability in electrodynamic fields. We report emergence of planar and volume ordered structures of microparticles, depending on the a.c. trapping frequency and particle specific charge ratio. The electric potential within the trap is mapped using the electrolytic tank method. Particle dynamics is simulated using a stochastic Langevin equation. We emphasize extended regions of stable trapping with respect to quadrupole traps, as well as good agreement between experiment and numerical simulations.