Highly efficient, nearly deterministic, and isotope selective generation of Yb$^+$ ions by 1- and 2-color photoionization is demonstrated. State preparation and state selective detection of hyperfine states in ybodd is investigated in order to optimize the purity of the prepared state and to time-optimize the detection process. Linear laser cooled Yb$^+$ ion crystals ions confined in a Paul trap are demonstrated. Advantageous features of different previous ion trap experiments are combined while at the same time the number of possible error sources is reduced by using a comparatively simple experimental apparatus. This opens a new path towards quantum state manipulation of individual trapped ions, and in particular, to scalable quantum computing.
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