Coulomb Crystallization of Highly Charged Ni¹2+ Ions in a Linear Paul Trap

2025/04/27 by Chen, Shaolong, Zhou, Zhiqiang, Zhang, Guosheng +4 · 1 citation
#Atomic Physics (physics.atom-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences

paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2504.19182

Abstract

Optical clocks have garnered widespread attention due to their unparalleled precision in time-frequency standards, geodetic measurements, and fundamental physics research. Among emerging developments, highly charged ion (HCI)-based optical clocks have attracted significant scientific interest owing to their exceptional resilience against electromagnetic perturbations and enhanced sensitivity to variations in the fine-structure constant (α). While the recent successful demonstration of an Ar¹³⁺ optical clock has validated the feasibility of HCI-based systems, Ni¹²⁺ -- featuring an ultranarrow clock transition linewidth -- stands out as a superior candidate for achieving HCI optical clocks with 10^-19 level uncertainty and stability. In this work, we report the Coulomb crystallization of nickel highly charged ions (Ni-HCIs). Through a precision deceleration and sympathetic cooling protocol in a room-temperature Paul trap, high-energy Ni-HCI bunches were sympathetically cooled from megakelvin to the 100-millikelvin range using laser-cooled Be⁺ ions. This work represents a pivotal step toward the realization of an optical clock based on the Ni¹²⁺ ion.

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