Generation of vacuum ultraviolet radiation by intracavity high-harmonic generation toward state detection of single trapped ions

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the generation of vacuum ultraviolet radiation at 159 nm via intracavity high-harmonic generation, enabling direct excitation of single trapped ions for improved state detection.

Contribution

It introduces a fluoride-based VUV output-coupler for intracavity high-harmonic generation, achieving measurable VUV power suitable for atomic ion excitation.

Findings

Achieved 6.4 μW VUV power at 159 nm

Demonstrated excitation of a single trapped ion

Detected hundreds of fluorescence photons per second

Abstract

VUV radiation around 159 nm is obtained toward direct excitation of a single trapped $^{115}$In$^{+}$ ion. An efficient fluoride-based VUV output-coupler is employed for intracavity high-harmonic generation of a Ti:S oscillator. Using this coupler, where we measured its reflectance to be about 90%, an average power reaching $6.4\,\mu$W is coupled out from a modest fundamental power of 650 mW. When a single comb component out of $1.9\times10^{5}$ teeth is resonant to the atomic transition, hundreds of fluorescence photons per second will be detectable under a realistic condition.