Instabilities of ion motion in a linear Paul trap

Abstract We have investigated the stability properties of a linear radio frequency ion trap with cylindrical electrodes. Inside the region of stability for an ideal trap we found a number of instabilities similar to those experimentally observed in three-dimensional traps. They arise from higher order contributions to the ideal quadrupole trapping potential. The static potential for axial confinement shifts the radial ion oscillation frequencies and leads to additional instabilities.