Data and supplementary materials for "Fast switching of the rf trapping field in an ion trap"

Datasets and supplementary materials for the paper "Fast switching of the rf trapping field in an ion trap". The .zip folder attached contains data used for Figures 3, 5, 6, 8, 9 as well as the rf powers used for switching. This folder contains a "Read me" file detailing the contents of each of the data files and the file structure.OverviewFigure 3: plotted data showing rf signal during switching by the simple and extended methodsFigures 5 and 6: for each data point in these figures, the datasets include the histograms of photon counts during the switching process and recooling; oscilloscope traces showing the rf field during switching; and CCD images of the crystal before and after the measurements.Figure 8: oscilloscope data showing rf signal during switching and oscilloscope data showing laser pulse detected on a photodiode.Figure 9: CCD images of the crystal before and after the loading processAdditional: rf drive powers used in each of the measurements for Figures 5 and 6AbstractRadiofrequency ion traps are essential for many experiments, ranging from quantum computing to physical chemistry and fundamental science. However, in some circumstances the trapping fields may cause undesired effects and need to be switched off briefly during operation without compromising the trap stability. By employing interference in the trap resonator circuit to enable switching faster than the resonator’s natural decay, the electric field in the trap can be extinguished by >50 dB. We have demonstrated that it is possible to switch a linear Paul trap off for several microseconds without the loss of 40Ca+ ions, even for large three-dimensional ion crystals, and have examined the effect of the switching parameters on the ion dynamics by monitoring the fluorescence rate. We have loaded N2+ ions into a crystal of trapped calcium ions via photoionisation using this technique, demonstrating that it is also possible to capture ions despite the absence of a trapping field during the ionisation.