Abstract
We present a feasibility study with several magnetic field configurations for creating spin-dependent forces that can split a low-energy ion beam by the Stern–Gerlach (SG) effect. To the best of our knowledge, coherent spin-splittings of charged particles have yet to be realised. Our proposal is based on ion source parameters taken from a recent experiment that demonstrated single-ion implantation from a high-brightness ion source combined with a radio-frequency Paul trap. The inhomogeneous magnetic fields can be created by permanently magnetised microstructures or from current-carrying wires with sizes in the micron range, such as those recently used in a successful implementation of the SG effect with neutral atoms. All relevant forces (Lorentz force and image charges) are taken into account, and measurable splittings are found by analytical and numerical calculations.
Highlights
The spin is a fundamental property of quantum particles, be they elementary or composite
Our proposal is based on ion source parameters taken from a recent experiment that demonstrated single-ion implantation from a high-brightness ion source combined with a radio-frequency Paul trap
The inhomogeneous magnetic fields can be created by permanently magnetised microstructures or from current-carrying wires with sizes in the micron range, such as those recently used in a successful implementation of the Stern-Gerlach effect with neutral atoms
Summary
The spin is a fundamental property of quantum particles, be they elementary or composite. The beam splitter for ion beams suggested here may form a basic building block of free space interferometric devices for charged particles This would be similar to the electron interferometer of Hasselbach and co-workers [10, 11] (which was not based on the spin degree of freedom), and in analogy to recently realised neutral particle SG interferometers [12,13,14]. The strong electric interactions may be used, for example, to entangle the single ion with a solid-state quantum device (an electron in a quantum dot or on a Coulomb island, or a qubit flux gate) This type of interferometer may lead to new sensing capabilities [11]: one of the two ion wave packets is expected to pass tens of microns above a surface (in the chip configuration of the proposal) and may probe van der Waals and Casimir-Polder forces, as well as patch potentials. This has important implications for studying the interface between quantum mechanics and general relativity
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