Related papers: Ultrafast infrared spectroscopy with single molecu…
Observing the motion of the nuclear wavepackets during a molecular reaction, in both space and time, is crucial for understanding and controlling the outcome of photoinduced chemical reactions. We have imaged the motion of a vibrational…
We perform high-resolution real-time read-out of the motion of a single trapped and laser-cooled Ba ion. By using an interferometric setup we demonstrate shot-noise limited measurement of thermal oscillations with resolution of 4 times the…
Laser spectroscopy of cold and trapped molecular ions is a powerful tool for fundamental physics, including the determination of fundamental constants, the laboratory test for their possible variation, and the search for a possible electric…
Due to their rich level structure, molecules are well-suited for probing time variation of fundamental constants, precisely measuring parity violation and time-reversal non-invariance effects, studying quantum mechanical aspects of chemical…
A two level model of a single molecule undergoing spectral diffusion dynamics and interacting with a sequence of two short laser pulses is investigated. Analytical solution for the probability of n=0,1,2 photon emission events for the…
We study a hybrid quantum system composed of an ion and an electric dipole. We show how a trapped ion can be used to measure the small electric field generated by a classical dipole. We discuss the application of this scheme to measure the…
Electron motion on the (sub-)femtosecond time scale constitutes the fastest response in many natural phenomena such as light-induced phase transitions and chemical reactions. Whereas static electron densities in single molecules can be…
Samples of ultracold 174 Yb+ ions, confined in a linear radio-frequency Paul trap, are heated via self-induced micromotion interruption, while their temperature, density, and therefore structural phase are monitored and simulated. The…
We present numerical simulations of ultrafast multiphoton ionization dynamics in a two-dimensional atomic model driven by co- and counterrotating circularly polarized single-color and bichromatic carrier envelope phase (CEP) stable…
Well isolated quantum systems are exquisite sensors of electromagnetic fields. In this work, we use a single trapped ion for characterizing chirped ultraviolet (UV) picosecond laser pulses. The frequency swept pulses resonantly drive a…
We report optical absorption imaging of ultracold neutral plasmas.Images are used to measure the ion absorption spectrum, which is Doppler-broadened. Through the spectral width, we monitor ion equilibration in the first 250ns after plasma…
We report the rotationally resolved spectrum of a single polyatomic molecular ion in the gas phase. Building upon the recently developed inelastic recoil spectroscopy (IRS) technique, we have achieved a spectral resolution sufficient to…
Laser cooling and trapping of atoms and atomic ions has led to numerous advances including the observation of exotic phases of matter, development of exquisite sensors and state-of-the-art atomic clocks. The same level of control in…
We have realized a high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometer combined with a magneto-optical trap. The spectrometer enables excellent optical access to the trapped atomic cloud using specifically devised acceleration and deflection…
A single $^{40}$Ca ion is confine in the harmonic potential of a Paul trap and cooled to a temperature of a few mK, with a wave packet of sub-m spatial and sub-m/s velocity uncertainty. Deterministically extracted from the Paul trap, the…
The coherent interaction with ultrashort light pulses is a powerful strategy for monitoring and controlling the dynamics of wave packets in all states of matter. As light presents an oscillation period of a few femtoseconds ($T=2.6$~fs in…
Polyatomic molecular ions contain many desirable attributes of a useful quantum system, including rich internal degrees of freedom and highly controllable coupling to the environment. To date, the vast majority of state-specific…
Real-time access to the internal ultrafast dynamics of complex dissipative optical systems opens new explorations of pulse-pulse interactions and dynamic patterns. We present the first direct experimental evidence of the internal motion of…
Trapping molecular ions that have been sympathetically cooled with laser-cooled atomic ions is a useful platform for exploring cold ion chemistry. We designed and characterized a new experimental apparatus for probing chemical reaction…
Understanding and controlling the electronic as well as ro-vibrational motion and, thus, the entire chemical dynamics in molecules is the ultimate goal of ultrafast laser and imaging science. In photochemistry, laser-induced dissociation…