Off-resonance electronic detection and cooling of ions in a Penning trap

Abstract

We present a non-destructive electronic detector for stored charged particles in a Penning trap that uses a symmetric electrode arrangement for signal pickup and a resonator without tap. This system has advantageous off-resonance features which are demonstrated by means of detection and cooling measurements with highly charged ions in a cryogenic Penning trap. In particular, it allows for particle detection across a wide range of frequencies that is not concomitant with cooling and offers a novel way to tune a trap with the help of non-destructive measurements on large particle ensembles.