Related papers: A single-atom 3D sub-attonewton force sensor
Forces acting between an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) tip and sample are three dimensional. Despite this, most AFM force measurements are confined to one or two dimensions. Extending AFM force measurements into three dimensions has…
The quadrupole linear Paul trap is one of the key instruments in building highly stable atomic clocks. However, a frequency reference based on a single trapped ion is limited in stability due to the time needed for the interrogation cycle…
We fabricate superconducting ion traps with niobium and niobium nitride and trap single 88Sr ions at cryogenic temperatures. The superconducting transition is verified and characterized by measuring the resistance and critical current using…
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been constantly supporting nanosciences and nanotechnologies for over 30 years, being present in many fields from condensed matter physics to biology. It enables measuring very weak forces at the nanoscale,…
We have performed laser cooling of Mg ions confined in a Penning trap. The externally produced ions were captured in flight, stored and laser cooled. Laser-induced fluorescence was observed perpendicular to the cooling laser axis. Optical…
Ultracold atom-traps on a chip enhances the practical application of atom traps in quantum information processing, sensing, and metrology. Plasmon mediated near-field optical potentials are promising for trapping atoms. The combination of…
The problem for molecular identification knows many solutions which include mass spectrometers whose mass sensitivity depends on the performance of the detector involved. The purpose of this article is to show by means of molecular dynamics…
Trapped ions are considered one of the best candidates to perform quantum information processing. By interacting them with laser beams they are, somehow, easy to manipulate, which makes them an excellent choice for the production of…
We study the time-dependent fluorescence of an initially hot, multi-level, single atomic ion trapped in a radio-frequency Paul trap during Doppler cooling. We have developed an analytical model that describes the fluorescence dynamics…
Mechanical resonators based on low-dimensional materials are promising for force and mass sensing experiments. The force sensitivity in these ultra-light resonators is often limited by the imprecision in the measurement of the vibrations,…
We demonstrate broadband laser cooling of atomic ions in an rf trap using ultrafast pulses from a modelocked laser. The temperature of a single ion is measured by observing the size of a time-averaged image of the ion in the known harmonic…
We present a method of sensing AC magnetic fields. The method is based on the construction of a robust qubit by the application of continuous driving fields. Specifically, magnetic noise and power fluctuations of the driving fields do not…
We present an all-optical mass spectrometry technique to identify trapped ions. The new method uses laser-cooled ions to determine the mass of a cotrapped dark ion with a sub-dalton resolution within a few seconds. We apply the method to…
Thorium ions exhibit unique nuclear properties with high relevance for testing symmetries of nature, and Paul traps feature an ideal experimental platform for performing high precision quantum logic spectroscopy. Loading of stable or…
Mechanical resonators based on a single carbon nanotube are exceptional sensors of mass and force. The force sensitivity in these ultra-light resonators is often limited by the noise in the detection of the vibrations. Here, we report on an…
We demonstrate excitation of a single trapped cold $^{40}$Ca$^+$ ion to Rydberg levels by laser radiation in the vacuum-ultraviolet at 122 nm wavelength. Observed resonances are identified as 3d$^2$D$_{3/2}$ to 51 F, 52 F and…
We demonstrate the use of a single trapped ion as a sensor to probe electric-field noise from interchangeable test surfaces. As proof of principle, we measure the magnitude and distance dependence of electric-field noise from two…
Oscillators based on levitated particles are promising for the development of ultrasensitive force detectors. The theoretical performance of levitated nanomechanical sensors is usually characterized by the so-called thermal noise limit…
Manipulating individual trapped ions at the single quantum level has become standard practice in radio-frequency ion traps, enabling applications from quantum information processing to precision metrology. The key ingredient is ground-state…
We describe and characterize an experimental apparatus that has been used to study interactions between ultracold lithium atoms and ytterbium ions. The preparation of ultracold clouds of Li atoms is described as well as their subsequent…