A Cryogenic Penning Trap Based on Permanent Magnets

Abstract

We report on a Penning trap based on NdFeB permanent magnets operated at 4\,K with a magnetic field strength of 280\,mT. Reliable loading and confinement of protons, H$_2^+$ ions, and electrons was demonstrated with non-destructive single-particle detection sensitivity of protons and H$_2^+$ ions using superconducting image-current circuits. The axial frequency of individual particles reaches a shot-to-shot stability of 47 parts-per-billion comparable to that of state-of-the-art precision Penning-trap experiments. Measurements of the proton modified-cyclotron frequency show a shot-to-shot scatter of $0.14$ parts per million (p.p.m.), presently limited by millikelvin-level temperature fluctuations of the permanent-magnet assembly. We outline a route towards improving this performance by more than an order of magnitude. This development offers broad potential for axial-mode-related precision measurements and cost-efficient Penning-trap experiments, and represents an important step towards compact, scalable, and transportable antiproton-trap systems.