Description
Speaker:
Dr Sourav Dutta
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR)
Abstract:
Hybrid atom-ion systems offer unique opportunities for ultracold chemistry, precision measurements, and quantum simulation; but prolonged trapping of non-laser-coolable ions (the vast majority of atomic and molecular species of interest) remains challenging due to rapid losses due to rf heating and background collisions. We demonstrate ion lifetimes more than 80 minutes in a linear Paul trap by cooling ensembles of Cs⁺ ions with ultracold Cs atoms, thus realizing the long-lived regime for ions ensembles that cannot be laser cooled. We report a genuine attracting fixed point in the hybrid system: ion number converges to the same steady state population independent of the initial number of ions. The results open a pathway towards sympathetic cooling of complex species and facilitate studies of rare reactions and driven dissipative systems.