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Experimental demonstration of ultrahigh-precision transport and acceleration of single ions

K. Muroo1,*,‡, K. Hosaka2, Y. Yuri2, K. Ito1, and H. Okamoto1,†

  • *Contact author: muroo.kento@qst.go.jp
  • †Contact author: okamoto@sci.hiroshima-u.ac.jp
  • ‡Present address: Takasaki Institute for Advanced Quantum Science, National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST), 1233 Watanuki, Takasaki, Gunma 370-1292, Japan.
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Phys. Rev. Accel. Beams 29, 053401 – Published 5 May, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/zgph-xm12

Abstract

A basic performance test of a novel ion source is carried out to attain an extremely narrow beam for pinpoint irradiation of single ions onto an intended target. In principle, the normalized root-mean-squared emittance of the beam can reach a sub-femtometer level, which makes a transverse spot size of nanometer order available. The system is based on a compact linear Paul trap equipped with a Doppler-cooling device. The trap is the most popular, economical type consisting simply of a few metal plates and rods. Among several possible choices of ion species, we picked Ca40+ for the present investigation. A small number of Ca40+ ions are first laser cooled to near absolute zero where they form a spatially ordered configuration called a Coulomb crystal. The axial-potential well provided by dc bias voltages on two planar electrodes is then deformed gradually to eject the ions from the trap along the design orbit. We demonstrate that it is possible to launch the ultracold ions one by one at arbitrary timing with no serious radio-frequency heating. These ions are accelerated to 1 keV immediately after the extraction. The effectiveness of a few different ion-ejection schemes is experimentally verified and supported by three-dimensional molecular dynamics simulations.

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Phys. Rev. Accel. Beams 29, 053401– Published 5 May, 2026
  • Received 30 October 2025
  • Accepted 3 April 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

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