Measuring molecular electric dipoles using trapped atomic ions and ultrafast laser pulses

TL;DR

This paper proposes a hybrid quantum system using trapped ions and ultrafast laser pulses to measure electric dipole moments of cold polar molecules, enabling precise electric field detection at the quantum level.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method combining trapped ions and ultrafast lasers to measure molecular electric dipoles with high sensitivity.

Findings

Trapped ions can detect electric fields from classical dipoles.

Ultrafast laser control enables manipulation of molecular states.

Potential for precise measurement of molecular electric dipole moments.

Abstract

We study a hybrid quantum system composed of an ion and an electric dipole. We show how a trapped ion can be used to measure the small electric field generated by a classical dipole. We discuss the application of this scheme to measure the electric dipole moment of cold polar molecules, whose internal state can be controlled with ultrafast laser pulses, by trapping them in the vicinity of a trapped ion.