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  • Open Access

Nanoparticle Stored with an Atomic Ion in a Linear Paul Trap

Dmitry S. Bykov*, Lorenzo Dania†, Florian Goschin, and Tracy E. Northup

  • *Contact author: dmitry.bykov@uibk.ac.at
  • †Present address: Photonics Laboratory, ETH Zürich, CH 8093 Zürich, Switzerland.
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 213602 – Published 21 November, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/5lzj-f61x

Abstract

Radiofrequency (RF) traps enable highly controlled interactions between charged particles, including reactions between cold molecular ions, sympathetic cooling of one ion species with another, and quantum logic spectroscopy. However, the charge-to-mass (Q/m) selectivity of RF traps limits the range of objects that can be confined simultaneously in the same trap. Here, we confine two particles—a nanoparticle and an atomic ion—in the same radiofrequency trap although their charge-to-mass ratios differ by six orders of magnitude. The confinement is enabled by a dual-frequency voltage applied to the trap electrodes. We introduce a robust loading procedure under ultrahigh vacuum and characterize the stability of both particles. It is observed that slow-field micromotion, an effect specific to the dual-field setting, plays a crucial role for ion localization. Our results lay the groundwork for controlled interactions between diverse charged particles, regardless of the difference in their charge or mass, with applications from antimatter synthesis to the generation of macroscopic quantum states of motion.

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 213602– Published 21 November, 2025
  • Received 18 June 2024
  • Accepted 16 October 2025
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

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