Constructing an Ultra-High Vacuum Chamber and a Radio Frequency Helical Resonator for Trapping Ions

We describe the construction of an ultra-high vacuum (UHV) chamber and a radio frequency helical resonator for use in co-trapping atomic and molecular ions. Cleaning procedures for the in-vacuum components are provided. These procedures give positive results in cleaning copper electrodes. The thesis also provides general UHV construction techniques and design choices for our UHV chamber. For the helical resonator, we design a 20 MHz resonator with a high quality factor and have built a preliminary version, whose resonant frequency matches with theoretical predictions. However, the measured quality factor differs significantly from the predicted values. The UHV chamber and the RF resonator are essential for trapping ions using a linear Paul trap. Ion traps have applications in mass spectrometry and quantum information processing. We aim to use our ion trap apparatus to perform precision measurements on atomic and molecular ions which can be excellent probes for time-variation of electron-proton mass ratio.