Related papers: Measuring a single atom's position with extreme su…
Trapped ions are sensitive detectors of weak forces and electric fields that excite ion motion. Here measurements of the center-of-mass motion of a trapped-ion crystal that are phase-coherent with an applied weak external force are…
The ability to detect extremely small forces is vital for a variety of disciplines including precision spin-resonance imaging, microscopy, and tests of fundamental physical phenomena. Current force-detection sensitivity limits have…
We present a technique to measure the amplitude of a center-of-mass (COM) motion of a two-dimensional ion crystal of $\sim$100 ions. By sensing motion at frequencies far from the COM resonance frequency, we experimentally determine the…
We report the optical imaging of a single atom with nanometer resolution using an adaptive optical alignment technique that is applicable to general optical microscopy. By decomposing the image of a single laser-cooled atom, we identify and…
In cold atomic systems, fast and high-resolution microscopy of individual atoms is crucial, since it can provide direct information on the dynamics and correlations of the system. Here, we demonstrate nanosecond-scale two-dimensional…
Single-atom quantum sensors offer high spatial resolution and high sensitivity to electric and magnetic fields. Among them, trapped ions offer exceptional performance in sensing electric fields, which has been used in particular to probe…
The present paper describes the experimental implementation of a measuring technique employing a slowly moving, near resonant, optical standing wave in the context of trapped ions. It is used to measure several figures of merit that are…
We present a method to measure potentials over an extended region using one-dimensional ion crystals in a radio frequency (RF) ion trap. The equilibrium spacings of the ions within the crystal allow the determination of the external forces…
Precision sensing, and in particular high precision magnetometry, is a central goal of research into quantum technologies. For magnetometers, often trade-offs exist between sensitivity, spatial resolution, and frequency range. The…
We have developed a novel scheme to measure the secular motion of trapped ions. Employing pulsed excitation and analysis of the fluorescence of laser cooled ions, we have measured the centre-of-mass mode frequency of single as well as…
Precision measurement of small separations between two atoms or molecules has been of interest since the early days of science. Here, we discuss a scheme which yields spatial information on a system of two identical atoms placed in a…
We present two methods for characterization of motional-mode configurations that are generally applicable to the weak and strong-binding limit of single or multiple trapped atomic ions. Our methods are essential to realize control of the…
All physical interactions are mediated by forces. Ultra-sensitive force measurements are therefore a crucial tool for investigating the fundamental physics of magnetic, atomic, quantum, and surface phenomena. Laser cooled trapped atomic…
We report the localization of an ion by a one-dimensional optical lattice in the presence of an applied external force. The ion is confined radially by a radiofrequency trap and axially by a combined electrostatic and optical-lattice…
We optically detect the positions of single neutral cesium atoms stored in a standing wave dipole trap with a sub-wavelength resolution of 143 nm rms. The distance between two simultaneously trapped atoms is measured with an even higher…
High-precision sensing of vectorial forces has broad impact on both fundamental research and technological applications such as the examination of vacuum fluctuations \cite{casimir09rmp} and the detection of surface roughness of…
A single atom strongly coupled to a cavity mode is stored by three-dimensional confinement in blue-detuned cavity modes of different longitudinal and transverse order. The vanishing light intensity at the trap center reduces the light shift…
We introduce a measurement scheme that utilizes a single ion as a local field probe. The ion is confined in a segmented Paul trap and shuttled around to reach different probing sites. By the use of a single atom probe, it becomes possible…
A measurement technique is described which has the potential to map the atomic site occupancies of ultracold atoms in a short-period three-dimensional optical lattice. The method uses accordion and pinning lattices, together with…
We propose a new technique for the detection of single atoms in ultracold quantum gases. The technique is based on scanning electron microscopy and employs the electron impact ionization of trapped atoms with a focussed electron probe.…