Hi! Welcome to the King group's web site!
News: July 18, 2007 - trapped Mg+ ions!!
After months of effort (with a number of equipment break-downs!), we have trapped ions! The image to the left shows a string of trapped Mg+ ions. The bright spots are 24Mg+ ions, which are resonantly scattering light at 279.635 nm. The dark spots are 25Mg+ and 26Mg+ ions - due to the isotope shift, they are off resonance with the laser. We photo-ionization load from a natural-abundance beam of neutral Mg. Our present geometry gives us poor spectral resolution between 24Mg, 25Mg, and 26Mg.
Research Overview:
We use laser cooling and atom trapping to study basic quantum questions,
to control quantum systems, and to develop technology for quantum
computing.
Even though the theory of quantum mechanics is eighty years old,
physicists have only recently developed the technology to test and work
with some of its more bizarre-seeming aspects - like quantum entanglement.
Atomic systems are an excellent "micro-laboratory" to study quantum
phenomena, explore quantum measurement, and understand the boundary between quantum and classical systems. A key tool in this
micro-laboratory is our ability to cool trapped atoms to almost Absolute
Zero using lasers. In our labs, we use electric fields to trap
a handful of atomic ions (neutral atoms with a single electron removed).
Then we use laser systems to reduce their temperature to the quantum
regime, and study and control their quantum behaviour.
As experimentalists, we actually "play" with quantum mechanics in the
laboratory. Along the way, we use all sorts of equipment and techniques that prove
useful not only in academic research, but also in industry - ranging from
stabilized lasers to radiofrequency generators, from fluorescence imaging to opticalmodulation.
Come have a look at our research!
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