Light-pressure cooling of trapped ions in three dimensions

Juha Javanainen

Wayne M. Itano, Jonas Bergquist, J. J. Bollinger +1 more

Valdis Blūms, Marcin Piotrowski, Mahmood Irtiza Hussain +5 more

Forces drive all physical interactions. High-sensitivity measurement of the effect of forces enables the quantitative investigation of physical phenomena. Laser-cooled trapped atomic ions are a well-controlled quantum system whose low mass, strong Coulomb interaction, and readily detectable fluorescence signal make them a favorable platform for precision metrology. We demonstrate a three-dimensional sub-attonewton sensitivity force sensor based on a super-resolution imaging of a single trapped ion. The force is detected by measuring the ion's displacement in three dimensions with nanometer precision. Observed sensitivities were 372 ± 9, 347 ± 18, and 808 ± 51 zN/[Formula: see text], corresponding to 24×, 87×, and 21× above the quantum limit. We verified this technique by measuring a 95-zN light pressure force, an important systematic effect in optically based sensors.

Ferdinand Schmidt‐Kaler, Jürgen Eschner, R. Blatt +3 more

Ray LaPierre

In recent decades, it has become possible to trap individual atoms and ions. These methods enable the interaction of light with a cloud of atoms or even with individual atoms. There are three general methods that are widely used to trap atoms or ions: radiation pressure, magnetic dipole forces, and electric dipole forces. In this chapter, the major trapping and cooling techniques are reviewed with an emphasis on the basic physical principles.

Markus Lindberg