Temperature evolution of ions in a Paul trap driven by various radio-frequency waveforms

Abstract

In this study, temperature evolution of an ion ensemble in a three-dimensional quadrupole ion trap is explored. Four different radio-frequency (RF) waveforms have been used to drive the trap. It has been found that for the given period of the RF waveforms (rectangular, sine, triangular, and sawtooth), there have been obtained various ion temperatures for each waveform. The temperature evolution of ions was obtained using by the PyDIT code. Trapped ion temperature is affected by the motion of ions which consist of secular motion and micro-motion. It was found that temperature of ion ensemble is different at each of the four waveforms. This kind of investigation might be useful to select one of these RF waveforms which would be appropriate for specific applications. Furthermore, various octopole field contributions, and nonlinear Mathieu parameter (q), and initial condition effects on the ion ensemble temperature have also been investigated.