ABSTRACT
Symmetry breaking phase transitions play an important role in nature. When a system traverses such a transition at a finite rate, its causally disconnected regions choose the new broken symmetry state independently. Where such local choices are incompatible, topological defects can form. The Kibble-Zurek mechanism predicts the defect densities to follow a power law that scales with the rate of the transition. Owing to its ubiquitous nature, this theory finds application in a wide field of systems ranging from cosmology to condensed matter. Here we present the successful creation of defects in ion Coulomb crystals by a controlled quench of the confining potential, and observe an enhanced power law scaling in accordance with numerical simulations and recent predictions. This simple system with well-defined critical exponents opens up ways to investigate the physics of non-equilibrium dynamics from the classical to the quantum regime.
ABSTRACT
We report a simple, efficient, high voltage radio frequency (RF) generator powered by a single voltage source (1.5-7 V) to resonantly drive ion traps or other capacitive loads. Our circuit is able to deliver RF voltages > 500 V(p-p) at frequencies ranging from 0.1 to 10 MHz. This RF oscillator uses low-cost, commercially available components, and can be easily assembled onto a circuit board of a few cm(2). Because of its simplicity and good efficiency, this circuit is useful in applications requiring small size and low power consumption such as portable ion trap systems where the duration of operation under battery power is of concern.
