Motion analysis of a trapped ion chain by single photon self-interference

TL;DR

This paper introduces an optical method to analyze the oscillations of trapped ion chains by examining fluorescence light correlations, enabling detailed motional and mechanical correlation studies.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel optical detection scheme for ion chain motion analysis using fluorescence self-interference, applicable to multi-ion systems and mechanical sensing.

Findings

Successful detection of ion oscillations via fluorescence correlations

Effective under both continuous Doppler cooling and pulsed illumination

Potential for advanced motional and correlation sensing applications

Abstract

We present an optical scheme to detect the oscillations of a two-ion string confined in a linear Paul trap. The motion is detected by analyzing the intensity correlations in the fluorescence light emitted by one or two ions in the string. We present measurements performed under continuous Doppler cooling and under pulsed illumination. We foresee several direct applications of this detection method, including motional analysis of multi-ion species or coupled mechanical oscillators, and sensing of mechanical correlations.