Developing a modular ion trap characterization setup

• Main Author: Ang, Alastair Zhan Yuan
• Other Authors: David Wilkowski
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2024
• Subjects: Physics; Ion trapping; Ablation loading; Barium ion
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/175697
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Cold ion trapping plays a pivotal role in quantum information processing and precision measurements. This Final Year Project thesis presents the development of a laser setup designed for ablation loading, which is used to ablate neutral barium atoms from a barium chloride (BaCl2) stable compound. The neutral atoms are then excited using a 413nm laser and the spontaneous decay will emit a corresponding photon of 660nm. We were able to extract a colour-corrected image of the plume spot and superimposed it with the original setup. Concurrently, we leverage on the Multiphysics Simulation Software, COMSOL, to investigate the pseudopotential landscape of a six-wire surface electrode ion trap, revealing critical details about the trap centre and escape point.