We consider the processes of polarization bremsstrahlung in collisions of fast ions with linear chains consisting of isolated atoms. We obtained intensities and angular distributions of radiation spectra for arbitrary number of atoms in the chain. It appeared that interference in the photon radiation amplitudes lead to prominent variation of spectral angular distributions of polarization bremsstrahlung as compared to these distribuitions in collisions with an isolated atom. The mean loss of energy due to radiation or the so-called rediative friction is estimated. The results obtained permit standard generalization to the case of polarization bremsstrahlung in fast ion chanelling above surfaces an and in solid body.
We realize fast transport of ions in a segmented micro-structured Paul trap. The ion is shuttled over a distance of more than 10^4 times its groundstate wavefunction size during only 5 motional cycles of the trap (280 micro meter in 3.6 micro seconds). Starting from a ground-state-cooled ion, we find an optimized transport such that the energy increase is as low as 0.10 $pm$ 0.01 motional quanta. In addition, we demonstrate that quantum information stored in a spin-motion entangled state is preserved throughout the transport. Shuttling operations are concatenated, as a proof-of-principle for the shuttling-based architecture to scalable ion trap quantum computing.
A mixed-species geometric phase gate has been proposed for implementing quantum logic spectroscopy on trapped ions that combines probe and information transfer from the spectroscopy to the logic ion in a single pulse. We experimentally realize this method, show how it can be applied as a technique for identifying transitions in currently intractable atoms or molecules, demonstrate its reduced temperature sensitivity, and observe quantum-enhanced frequency sensitivity when it is applied to multi-ion chains. Potential applications include improved readout of trapped-ion clocks and simplified error syndrome measurements for quantum error correction.
We study the interaction of a light beams carrying angular momentum with a single, trapped and well localized ion. We provide a detailed calculation of selection rules and excitation probabilities for quadrupole transitions. The results show the dependencies on the angular momentum and polarization of the laser beam as well as the direction of the quantization magnetic field. In order to observe optimally the specific effects, focusing the angular momentum beam close to the diffraction limit is required. We discuss a protocol for examining experimentally the effects on the S$_{1/2}$ to D$_{5/2}$ transition using a $^{40}$Ca$^+$ ion. Various applications and advantages are expected when using light carrying angular momentum: In quantum information processing, where qubit states of ion crystals are controlled, parasitic light shifts could be avoided as the ion is excited in the dark zone of the beam at zero electric field amplitude. Such interactions also open the door to high dimensional entanglement between light and matter. In spectroscopy one might access transitions which have escaped excitation so far due to vanishing transition dipole moments.
Recent progresses on quantum control of cold atoms and trapped ions in both the scientific and technological aspects greatly advance the applications in precision measurement. Thanks to the exceptional controllability and versatility of these massive quantum systems, unprecedented sensitivity has been achieved in clocks, magnetometers and interferometers based on cold atoms and ions. Besides, these systems also feature many characteristics that can be employed to facilitate the applications in different scenarios. In this review, we briefly introduce the principles of optical clocks, cold atom magnetometers and atom interferometers used for precision measurement of time, magnetic field, and inertial forces. The main content is then devoted to summarize some recent experimental and theoretical progresses in these three applications, with special attention being paid to the new designs and possibilities towards better performance. The purpose of this review is by no means to give a complete overview of all important works in this fast developing field, but to draw a rough sketch about the frontiers and show the fascinating future lying ahead.
The interaction between the electric dipole moment of a trapped molecular ion and the configuration of the confined Coulomb crystal couples the orientation of the molecule to its motion. We consider the practical feasibility of harnessing this interaction to initialize, process, and read out quantum information encoded in molecular ion qubits without optically illuminating the molecules. We present two schemes wherein a molecular ion can be entangled with a co-trapped atomic ion qubit, providing, among other things, a means for molecular state preparation and measurement. We also show that virtual phonon exchange can significantly boost range of the intermolecular dipole-dipole interaction, allowing strong coupling between widely-separated molecular ion qubits.