Amplitude sensing below the zero-point fluctuations with a two-dimensional trapped-ion mechanical oscillator

Published

June 29, 2017

Author(s)

Kevin A. Gilmore, Justin G. Bohnet, Brian C. Sawyer, Joseph W. Britton, John J. Bollinger

Abstract

We present measurements of the amplitude of a center-of-mass (COM) motion of a two-dimensional ion crystal composed of 100 ions in a Penning trap. For motion off-resonant with the trap axial frequency we demonstrate measurements of amplitudes as small as 50 pm, 40 times smaller than the COM mode zero-point fluctuations. The basic technique employs a spin-dependent, optical-dipole force to couple the mechanical oscillation to the electron spins of the trapped ions, enabling a strong measurement of one quadrature of the COM motion through a readout of the spins. We show the limiting sensitivity of the measurement is set by spin projection noise and spin decoherence due to off-resonant light scattering from the optical-dipole force. Variations of the protocol demonstrated here can achieve a sensitivity below 20 pm/sqrt(Hz), which will be useful for detecting extremely weak forces (

Citation

Physical Review Letters

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

electric field sensing, force sensing, Penning trap, quantum sensing, trapped ions, zero-point fluctuations

Citation

Gilmore, K. , Bohnet, J. , Sawyer, B. , Britton, J. and Bollinger, J. (2017), Amplitude sensing below the zero-point fluctuations with a two-dimensional trapped-ion mechanical oscillator, Physical Review Letters, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=923013 (Accessed October 26, 2025)