Development of a Portable Ion Trap for the Study of Ions under High-dose Radiation

Ion traps have been established as a powerful tool for quantum simulation and computation in the past several decades. However, the resiliency of ion trap systems to extreme radiation environments, as may be found in space, remains largely unknown. Such investigations are primarily complicated by the difficulty of integrating high-dose radiation sources within standard atomic-physics laboratories. Here, we report on the development of a portable ion trap specifically designed to fit within test chambers located at high-dose radiation test facilities. Our platform is based on laser cooled Ytterbium ions, and the entire system is accommodated into 2 mobile rack units which comprise laser, electronics and physics package subsystems. To make the physics package compact and robust, a lumped circuit RLC resonator for RF source is also introduced.This study paves the road for future ion-trap-based quantum science in extreme environments.