Atomic ion clock with two ion traps, and method to transfer ions

Abstract

An atomic ion clock with a first ion trap and a second ion trap, where the second ion trap is of higher order than the first ion trap. In one embodiment, ions may be shuttled back and forth from one ion trap to the other by application of voltage ramps to the electrodes in the ion traps, where microwave interrogation takes place when the ions are in the second ion trap, and fluorescence is induced and measured when the ions are in the first ion trap. In one embodiment, the RF voltages applied to the second ion trap to contain the ions are at a higher frequency than that applied to the first ion trap. Other embodiments are described and claimed.