Development of a Tabletop Apparatus for the Generation, Transport, and Trapping of Highly Charged Ions

Atomic clocks based on optical transitions in highly charged ions (HCIs) are predicted to exhibit reduced sensitivity to external perturbations, including blackbody radiation, making them promising candidates for high-accuracy optical frequency standards. In addition, these systems could be used to investigate physics beyond the Standard Model [1,2]. Here we report progress on the development of a compact electron beam ion trap (EBIT) for the production of HCIs and a cryogenic radiofrequency (rf) Paul trap for quantum-logic clock operation. We further demonstrate the end-to-end development of our beamline connecting the EBIT to the trap, enabling efficient extraction and transport of HCIs to the trapping region. In future work, a single Be⁺ “logic” ion will be co-trapped with an HCI “clock” ion for sympathetic cooling and quantum-logic spectroscopy (QLS) and state readout operations.

[1] S. G. Porsev, et al., Phys. Rev. A.110, 042823 (2024).

[2] M. G. Kozlov, et al., Rev. Mod. Phys. 90, 045005 (2018).