Switchable Damping for a One-Particle Oscillator

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a switchable damping mechanism for a one-electron oscillator in a Penning trap, enabling improved quantum nondemolition detection and reduced measurement backaction.

Contribution

It introduces a novel switchable damping technique that significantly enhances measurement precision in electron oscillators.

Findings

Linewidth of cyclotron transition reduced by two orders of magnitude

Switchable damping enables quantum nondemolition detection

Backaction effects can be minimized with the new switch

Abstract

The possibility to switch the damping rate for a one-electron oscillator is demonstrated, for an electron that oscillates along the magnetic field axis in a Penning trap. Strong axial damping can be switched on to allow this oscillation to be used for quantum nondemolition detection of the cyclotron and spin quantum state of the electron. Weak axial damping can be switched on to circumvent the backaction of the detection motion that has limited past measurements. The newly developed switch will reduce the linewidth of the cyclotron transition of one-electron by two orders of magnitude.