Feedback Control Of High-Vaccum Cold-Ion Sources Using Rydberg Atom Spectroscopy

Abstract

A method is presented for generating an ion beam. The method includes: positioning atoms in a cavity of an optical resonator that defines an optical dipole trap; exciting the atoms while the atoms are trapped in the optical dipole trap using two or more laser beams, thereby forming ions; and driving the ions along an output axis towards a target by applying an electric field to the ions. In one aspect, the ion density of the ion source is regulated, for example using feedback control. Changing the ion density may be achieved, for example by inputting the atomic excitation spectrum into a feedback loop and controlling the power of the two or more laser beams using feedback from the feedback loop.

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