Tuesday, September 18, 2007

UV and the Quantum Computer Research



UV seems to be important to researchers, too.

I have been asked for advice by the University of Ulm/Germany which is part of the European Quantum Computer Project. Single Calcium ions are catched and isolated into a special fabricated deep temperature trap and targeted by laser radiation which brings them to emit UV light at about 397nm. To record this very faint radiation, a special lens is needed which has enough working distance, highest resolution and UV transmission. After some tests in my lab my advice was to use a Carl Zeiss Luminar 63mm for that purpose, which still has some 70% transmission at this wavelength.

Regarding resolution, the 63mm Luminar has a resolution of about 330lpm using white light and about 600lpm at ultraviolet /UV) light.

So enjoy some pictures from the forefront of research with me here; courtesy and (c) Institute for Quantum Information Processing, University of Ulm, Germany.

Experimental Setup showing a deep temperature dewar and laser injection:




Deep temperature Ion Trap:



Carl Zeiss Luminar 63mm as recording lens for 397nm Ca+ emissions (rear):



Recorded UV Ca ion emissions @397nm:



[All images in this thread (c) Institute for Quantum Information Processing, University of Ulm, Germany, used with permission]

More on the (various) series of Zeiss Luminar macro lenses, pictures, data etc. may be found on my site http://www.macrolenses.de together with some 300 other special macro lenses.

Stay tuned, more will follow on that fascinating subject...

More info on this very interesting field may be found on my site http://www.pbase.com/kds315/uv_photos