Trap-assisted complexes in cold atom-ion collisions

Abstract

We theoretically investigate the trap-assisted formation of complexes in atom-ion collisions and their impact on the stability of the trapped ion. The time-dependent potential of the Paul trap facilitates the formation of temporary complexes by reducing the energy of the atom, which gets temporarily stuck in the atom-ion potential. As a result, those complexes significantly impact termolecular reactions leading to molecular ion formation via three-body recombination. We find that complex formation is more pronounced in systems with heavy atoms, but the mass has no influence on the lifetime of the transient state. Instead, the complex formation rate strongly depends on the amplitude of the ion's micromotion. We also show that complex formation persists even in the case of a time-independent harmonic trap. In this case, we find higher formation rates and longer lifetimes than the Paul trap, indicating that the atom-ion complex plays an essential role in atom-ion mixtures in optical traps.

arXiv comment6 pages, 4 figures

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Cited by in corpus (10)

• Cold trapped molecular ions and hybrid platforms for ions and neutral particles
• Observation of trap-assisted formation of atom-ion bound states
• Ion solvation in atomic baths: from snowballs to polarons
• Exploring atom-ion Feshbach resonances below the s-wave limit
• Chaotic scattering and heating in cold ion-atom collisions: two sides of the same coin
• Cold hybrid electrical-optical ion trap
• Trap-induced atom-ion complexes: a time-independent approach
• Cold atom-ion systems in radiofrequency multipole traps: event-drive molecular dynamics and stochastic simulations
• Ultracold collisions of a neutral atom with a trapped ion in 1D
• Quantum suppression of cold reactions far from the s-wave energy limit