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Journal of Modern Optics

The other side of quantum jumps

P. E. Toschek

Published Apr 1, 2004• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

An ion, or atom, confined in a ‘trap’ and laser-irradiated on its resonance line generates a quasi-continuous flow of scattered light, and makes the line split or shifted. When the ion is probe-laser excited, on a neighbouring dipole-forbidden line to a metastable state, the flow subsides. Also, the shift or dynamic Stark splitting of the resonance and of the dipole-forbidden line vanishes. De-excitation of the ion requires the probe laser to be re-tuned to the unshifted resonance. Cyclic scanning of this laser shows a mean frequency offset of the on-off jumps from the off-on jumps. This random hysteresis may cool or heat the ion, and lock an ensemble in the metastable state.

DOI
10.1080/09500340408233608

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An ion, or atom, confined in a ‘trap’ and laser-irradiated on its resonance line generates a quasi-continuous flow of scattered light, and makes the line split or shifted. When the ion is probe-laser excited, on a neighbouring dipole-forbidden line to a metastable state, the flow subsides. Also, the shift or dynamic Stark splitting of the resonance and of the dipole-forbidden line vanishes. De-excitation of the ion requires the probe laser to be re-tuned to the unshifted resonance. Cyclic scanning of this laser shows a mean frequency offset of the on-off jumps from the off-on jumps. This random hysteresis may cool or heat the ion, and lock an ensemble in the metastable state.
Ion traps and cw dye lasers allow one to prepare small clouds of ions, or single ions. They can be detected even by absorptive techniques, such that the information is contained in one field mode only, the mode of the irradiating light. The noise can approach the limit. For excitation on weak and narrow lines, random breaks of the scattering on a competing resonance line can reveal the quantized signal absorption. These interruptions are the signature of quantum jumps which characterize the internal dynamics of a single atomic particle under quasi-continuous observation.
When a single trapped ion is laser excited to a metastable state, its ``quantum jump'' inhibits the laser-excited light scattering on a resonance line. This event, and its inverse, modifies the distribution over the oscillator levels (n)(n)(n) of the ion's vibration in the trap. In particular, unsuccessful attempts to deexcite on vibrational sidebands decrease 〈n〉〈n〉〈n〉 to sub-Doppler values and may leave the ion in a ``trapped'' Fock state decoupled from the light.
We have recorded the laser-excited resonance fluorescence of one to three Ba+{\mathrm{Ba}}^{+}Ba+ ions and observed Bohr's "quantum jumps" when an ion decayed to the metastable 2D52^{2}D_{\frac{5}{2}}2D25​​ state, suddenly quenching its fluorescence. Most of the jumps mark Raman-Stokes scattering from the 2S12^{2}S_{\frac{1}{2}}2S21​​ and 2D32^{2}D_{\frac{3}{2}}2D23​​ levels.
We performed laser spectroscopy of In+{\mathrm{In}}^{+}In+ ions stored in a radio-frequency trap. The 5s2{\mathit{s}}^{2}s2 1^{1}1S0{\mathit{S}}_{0}S0​\ensuremath{\rightarrow}5s5p 3^{3}3P1{\mathit{P}}_{1}P1​ transition at 230.6 nm was excited and its hyperfine splitting and isotope shift have been measured. The lifetime of the 3^{3}3P1{\mathit{P}}_{1}P1​ state was measured using intensity modulated laser excitation: \ensuremath{\tau}(3{(}^{3}(3P1{\mathit{P}}_{1}P1​)=0.44(4) \ensuremath{\mu}s. A single indium ion was laser cooled using this intercombination line and dark periods in the fluorescence were observed when the metastable 3^{3}3P0{\mathit{P}}_{0}P0​ state was populated by a magnetic dipole decay from 3^{3}3P1{\mathit{P}}_{1}P1​. The radiative lifetime of the forbidden transition 3^{3}3P0{\mathit{P}}_{0}P0​${\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}^{1}$S0{\mathit{S}}_{0}S0​ was determined from the duration of the dark periods: \ensuremath{\tau}(3{(}^{3}(3P0{\mathit{P}}_{0}P0​)=0.14(2) s. This value is compared to calculations based on perturbation theory. Prospects for an optical frequency standard using the narrow 5s2{\mathit{s}}^{2}s2 1^{1}1S0{\mathit{S}}_{0}S0​\ensuremath{\rightarrow}5s5p 3^{3}3P0{\mathit{P}}_{0}P0​ resonance at 236.5 nm of a single laser-cooled indium ion are discussed.
We performed laser spectroscopy of In+{\mathrm{In}}^{+}In+ ions stored in a radio-frequency trap. The 5s2{\mathit{s}}^{2}s2 1^{1}1S0{\mathit{S}}_{0}S0​\ensuremath{\rightarrow}5s5p 3^{3}3P1{\mathit{P}}_{1}P1​ transition at 230.6 nm was excited and its hyperfine splitting and isotope shift have been measured. The lifetime of the 3^{3}3P1{\mathit{P}}_{1}P1​ state was measured using intensity modulated laser excitation: \ensuremath{\tau}(3{(}^{3}(3P1{\mathit{P}}_{1}P1​)=0.44(4) \ensuremath{\mu}s. A single indium ion was laser cooled using this intercombination line and dark periods in the fluorescence were observed when the metastable 3^{3}3P0{\mathit{P}}_{0}P0​ state was populated by a magnetic dipole decay from 3^{3}3P1{\mathit{P}}_{1}P1​. The radiative lifetime of the forbidden transition 3^{3}3P0{\mathit{P}}_{0}P0​${\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}^{1}$S0{\mathit{S}}_{0}S0​ was determined from the duration of the dark periods: \ensuremath{\tau}(3{(}^{3}(3P0{\mathit{P}}_{0}P0​)=0.14(2) s. This value is compared to calculations based on perturbation theory. Prospects for an optical frequency standard using the narrow 5s2{\mathit{s}}^{2}s2 1^{1}1S0{\mathit{S}}_{0}S0​\ensuremath{\rightarrow}5s5p 3^{3}3P0{\mathit{P}}_{0}P0​ resonance at 236.5 nm of a single laser-cooled indium ion are discussed.