Mode shaping in mixed ion crystals of 40Ca2+ and 40Ca+

We present studies of mixed Coulomb crystals of 40Ca+ and 40Ca2+ ions in a linear Paul trap. Doubly charged ions are produced by photoionization of trapped 40Ca+ with a vacuum ultraviolet laser source and sympathetically cooled via Doppler cooled 40Ca+ ions. We investigate experimentally and theoretically the structural configurations and the vibrational modes of these mixed crystals. Our results with 40Ca2+ are an important step towards experimental realization of the proposals for mode shaping in a linear crystal and spin-dependent configuration changes from zigzag to linear as proposed by Li et al. (Phys Rev A 87:052304, 2013) and Li and Lesanovsky (Phys Rev Lett 108:023003, 2012) using ions excited to Rydberg states.