Detection of DC electric forces with zeptonewton sensitivity by single-ion phonon laser

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a single-ion phonon laser sensor capable of detecting extremely small DC electric forces with zeptonewton sensitivity, advancing force measurement techniques at quantum scales.

Contribution

The work introduces a novel single-ion phonon laser sensor that achieves unprecedented force sensitivity using phase injection-locking and classical squeezing techniques.

Findings

Achieved force detection sensitivity of 2.41±0.49 zN/√Hz.

Successfully measured small electric forces with a single trapped ion.

Potential for improved sensitivity with system enhancements.

Abstract

Detecting extremely small forces helps exploring new physics quantitatively. Here we demonstrate that the phonon laser made of a single trapped $^{40}$Ca$^{+}$ ion behaves as an exquisite sensor for small force measurement. We report our successful detection of small electric forces regarding the DC trapping potential with sensitivity of 2.41$\pm$0.49 zN/$\sqrt{{\rm Hz}}$, with the ion only under Doppler cooling, based on the injection-locking of the oscillation phase of the phonon laser in addition to the classical squeezing applied to suppress the measurement uncertainty. We anticipate that such a single-ion sensor would reach a much better force detection sensitivity in the future once the trapping system is further improved and the fluorescence collection efficiency is further enhanced.