Trapped ions at CSU

Welcome to the Brewer Ion Trapping Group at Colorado State University.  Our group is focused on high-precision laser spectroscopy of trapped highly charged ions for tests of fundamental physics.  Highly charged ions provide a unique platform for investigating physics beyond the standard model including tests of quantum electrodynamics and searches for time-variation of the fundamental constants. We plan to combine techniques developed for quantum information processing and ion optical clocks with compact ion sources to create, trap, cool, and interrogate highly charged ions.  (The photo above (left) shows a single laser-cooled \(^{9}\)Be\(^{+}\) ion stored in our recently constructed Paul trap and (right) a resonant frequency doubling cavity used to generate the 313 nm light needed for laser cooling and quantum-logic operations with \(^{9}\)Be\(^{+}\). (October 2021))