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arXiv · 2212.06456

Trapping and Ground-State Cooling of a Single H$_2^+$

N. Schwegler·D. Holzapfel·M. Stadler·A. Mitjans·I. Sergachev·J. P. Home·D. Kienzler
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Abstract

We demonstrate co-trapping and sideband cooling of a H$_2^+$ - $^9$Be$^+$ ion pair in a cryogenic Paul trap. We study the chemical lifetime of H$_2^+$ and its dependence on the apparatus temperature, achieving lifetimes of up to $11^{+6}_{-3}$ h at 10 K. We demonstrate cooling of two of the modes of translational motion to an average phonon number of 0.07(1) and 0.05(1), corresponding to a temperature of 22(1) $\mu$K and 55(3) $\mu$K respectively. Our results provide a basis for quantum logic spectroscopy experiments of H$_2^+$, as well as other light ions such as HD$^+$, H$_3^+$, and He$^+$.

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N. Schwegler, D. Holzapfel, M. Stadler, A. Mitjans, I. Sergachev, J. P. Home, D. Kienzler. 2022-12-13. Trapping and Ground-State Cooling of a Single H$_2^+$. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.131.133003

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