Pinning an Ion with an Intracavity Optical Lattice

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the one-dimensional optical lattice pinning of a single ion within a cavity, enhancing its localization and coupling efficiency, confirmed by experiments and supported by analytical and numerical models.

Contribution

It introduces a method for ion localization using an intracavity optical lattice, achieving high probability of ion binding and increased cavity coupling.

Findings

Ion localization probability exceeds 97%

Cavity coupling efficiency increased from 50% to 81%

Experimental results agree with analytical and numerical models

Abstract

We report one-dimensional pinning of a single ion by an optical lattice. The lattice potential is produced by a standing-wave cavity along the rf-field-free axis of a linear Paul trap. The ion's localization is detected by measuring its fluorescence when excited by standing-wave fields with the same period, but different spatial phases. The experiments agree with an analytical model of the localization process, which we test against numerical simulations. For the best localization achieved, the ion's average coupling to the cavity field is enhanced from 50% to 81(3)% of its maximum possible value, and we infer that the ion is bound in a lattice well with over 97% probability.