Improved Milli-Kelvin Laser Cooling of 2D Ion Crystals in Full-Dynamics Molecular Simulations

Single-Component Penning Trap Plasmas can be laser cooled to milli-kelvin temperatures allowing the formation of crystalline structures [J J Bollinger et al J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 36 499 (2003)]. With the implementation of a rotating wall potential the conformation of these crystals can be precisely controlled to give 2D planar ion crystals [J. J. Bollinger et al Phys. Rev. A 71, 023406 (2005)]. Such 2D ion crystals have been an attractive platform for quantum sensing and quantum simulation experiments [G. Bohnet, et al.,Sci. 352, 1297 (2016), K. Gilmore, et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 263602 (2017)], however recent work has determined that the planar ExB motions of the 2D ion crystals can possess large potential energies that complicate these quantum information experiments [Athreya Shankar et al. Phys. Rev. A, 10 102 (2020)]. In this work we demonstrate a reduction of these large potential energies in full n-body simulations implementing a realistic laser cooling model. We also discuss theoretical results for planar cooling rates and limits of a single ion and its connection to the laser cooling of many-ion 2D ion plasmas. These results will determine desirable experimental configurations for the rotating wall and cooling laser, unlocking the door to improved quantum simulation and quantum sensing experiments.