Isotope-selective manipulation of Ca⁺using laser heating and cooling in a linear Paul trap

Abstract

We report on the isotope-selective manipulation of Ca+ using the laser-heating and laser-cooling techniques in a linear Paul trap. Only 40Ca+ was selectively laser-heated using the optical isotope shift and eliminated from the trap while keeping the target isotope in the trap. The elimination process of the dominant isotope 40Ca+ was investigated and 42, 43, 44, 48Ca+ in the natural isotope mixture of Ca+ generated by laser ablation were successfully observed by means of applying the appropriate dc voltage on the end-cap electrodes without changing the laser frequencies, the laser powers and the duration of the laser irradiation. This simplified method enables us to efficiently laser-cool the rare isotopes.