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Physica Scripta

Quantum effects in measurements on trapped ions

D. J. Wineland, Jonas Bergquist, J. J. Bollinger, Wayne M. Itano

Published Jan 1, 1995• 8 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Quantum mechanical effects which are manifested in measurements on trapped atomic ions are reviewed. Observation of these effects is facilitated by the long storage times of a fixed number of laser-cooled ions and by high detection sensitivities, primarily through the observation of scattered laser light. We discuss the observation of quantum jumps and the application of quantum jumps to measurement of atomic ion lifetimes and spectra, detection of antibunching of light, the quantum Zeno effect and quantum projection noise. Experiments which detect nonclassical features of fluorescent light from single or a few trapped ions are briefly reviewed. Finally, we discuss experiments which reveal quantum effects in the motion of trapped ions. We briefly describe possible future extensions for each of these topics.

DOI
10.1088/0031-8949/1995/t59/039

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Quantum mechanical effects which are manifested in measurements on trapped atomic ions are reviewed. Observation of these effects is facilitated by the long storage times of a fixed number of laser-cooled ions and by high detection sensitivities, primarily through the observation of scattered laser light. We discuss the observation of quantum jumps and the application of quantum jumps to measurement of atomic ion lifetimes and spectra, detection of antibunching of light, the quantum Zeno effect and quantum projection noise. Experiments which detect nonclassical features of fluorescent light from single or a few trapped ions are briefly reviewed. Finally, we discuss experiments which reveal quantum effects in the motion of trapped ions. We briefly describe possible future extensions for each of these topics.
Ion traps allow us to study single quantum systems, cooled to the lowest vibrational state of motion within confining electric and magnetic fields. In this article, we describe the working principles of ion traps and the methods used to cool the ions (principally laser cooling). We then discuss how these cold ions, held almost at rest in the trap, can be used to illuminate fundamental issues of quantum mechanics: quantum jumps, the quantum Zeno effect and the quantum statistics of photons scattered by the ions. Finally, we describe how several ions loaded in a trap are cooled into ordered quasi crystals.
A single trapped and cooled ion interacting with light is the realization of a fundamental system of quantum optics. Relevant viewpoints include the light scattering and its relation to the preparation of the ion, the dynamics of the ion's internal motion, and the dynamics of its vibrational motion. As cases in point, recent results are reviewed that illustrate those viewpoints: (i) The preparation of the ion, by spontaneous emission, in a superposition of energy eigenstates of quasi-permanent lifetime. (ii) The dispersive effect of quantum jumps of the ion, to and from a metastable state, that gives rise to internally self-locking the ion in either the light-scattering bright or the non-scattering dark state. (iii) The stochastic cooling of the ion by repeated null detection of its resonance scattering. These counter-intuitive phenomena characterize a physical system, where quantum mechanics models ensembles of observations.
Abstract In this chapter we present applications of ion traps to: (i) determination of the g-value of an electron from electron spin resonance experiments on a single electron, (ii) observation of quantum jumps in a single trapped ion, (iii) an experimental test of the quantum Zeno effect, (iv) a precision test of the linearity of quantum mechanics, (v) a range of studies on one-component microplasmas, (vi) optical spectroscopy of molecular ions, (vii) precision mass measurement of stable isotopes, (viii) precision mass measurement of radioactive isotopes, (ix) trapping and precision mass measurement of antimatter, specifically of antiprotons, (x) lifetime measurement of neutron undergoing beta decay, and (xi) atomic physics of highly charged ions.
Experiments with individual trapped ions are ideally suited to investigate fundamental issues of quantum mechanics such as the measurement process. At the same time electrodynamically trapped ions have been used with great success to demonstrate quantum logic operations and are a candidate for scalable quantum computing. In this article a brief introduction is given to the basic steps that constitute a quantum measurement; in particular, measurements on single quantum systems are considered. Then experiments with single Yb+ are reviewed demonstrating the quantum Zeno paradox, as well as an experiment where an adaptive algorithm for quantum state estimation of qubits was implemented. In the last section of this article -- devoted to experiments and new ideas related to quantum information processing (QIP) with trapped ions -- the realization of various quantum channels using a hyperfine qubit of Yb+ is briefly discussed. Then a concept for QIP with trapped ions is reviewed where rf or microwave radiation is used instead of laser light for coherent manipulation of a collection of ions. In a suitably modified trap the ions form an artificial ion "molecule" to which the techniques developed in nuclear magnetic resonance and electron spin resonance experiments can be directly applied. Finally, coherent excitation of optical electric quadrupole transitions in Yb+ and Ba+ is reported. In addition, robust Raman cooling of a pair of Ba+ ions is reviewed.
Examples of recent experiments are presented which show characteristic features associated with the technique of ion trapping: Ultrahigh resolution in hyperfine spectroscopy due to long coherence time, lifetime measurements for very long living states and rare isotope investigation due to the high sensitivity of optical detection of stored ions. The possibility of experiments of fundamental quantum mechanical interest will be pointed out. In addition a few open questions associated with the behaviour of large ion clouds, which might influence the precision of future experiments, will be discussed.