Determination of the Heating Rate and Temperature of an Ion Chain in a Linear Paul Trap by the Dephasing of Rabi Oscillations

Abstract

The optimization of the parameters of laser cooling and the investigation of the heating rate in ion traps require the measurement of the temperature of ion chains for which the Lamb–Dicke regime is satisfied. A novel method based on the investigation of the dynamics of Rabi oscillations at a narrow electron transition in an individual ion of the chain has been suggested for such measurement. An analytical expression for the population of the upper state as a function of the excitation time is derived taking into account the thermal distribution of phonons over the vibrational modes of a chain with an arbitrary number of ions. The method is tested experimentally for the chain of five $$^{{171}}{\text{Y}}{{{\text{b}}}^{ + }}$$ ions using the quadrupole transition at 435 nm, as well as for a single ion. The heating rate measured for the axial vibrational mode in the implemented trap is 8 × 103 phonons/s.