https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2012-30377-8
Regular Article
All-optical broadband excitation of the motional state of trapped ions
ITCM Group, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of
Sussex, BN1 9QH
Falmer, England
a
e-mail: K.T.Sheridan@sussex.ac.uk
Received: 15 June 2012
Received in final form: 24 September 2012
Published online: 27 November 2012
We have developed a novel all-optical broadband scheme for exciting, amplifying and measuring the secular motion of ions in a radio frequency trap. Requiring only laser line-of-sight, oscillation induced by optical excitation has been coherently amplified to precisely control and measure the ion’s secular motion. Our excitation scheme can generate coherent motion which is robust against variations in the secular frequency. Therefore, our scheme is ideal to excite the desired level of oscillatory motion under conditions where the secular frequency is evolving in time. Measuring the oscillation amplitude through Doppler velocimetry, we have characterized the experimental parameters and compared them with a molecular dynamics simulation which provides a complete description of the system.
Key words: Atomic Physics
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag 2012
