Abstract
Single ions in ion traps can be localized in small volumes and held for long periods of time. This makes it easier to observe certain nonclassical properties of the electromagnetic field, such as photon antibunching and sub-Poissonian photon statistics, which are reduced when large numbers of atoms are present. Such properties can be observed in atomic beams so dilute that the probability of having more than one atom in the observation volume is low.1,2 Trapped ions can be studied for much longer times. This makes it possible, for example, to observe repeated quantum jumps of the same atom.3–5 When there are only a few (or one) ions in the trap, their number can be known and kept fixed. Thus, sub-Poissonian photon statistics can be observed6,7 without the time gating which is necessary with atomic beams.2 Another advantage of trapped ions is that, thanks to their isolation from collisions and other perturbations, they can be laser-cooled to low temperatures and studied spectroscopically with great precision. A single ion has even been cooled to the ground energy level of the harmonic well of the trap, so its motion must be treated quantum mechanically.8
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© 1990 Plenum Press, New York
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Itano, W.M., Bergquist, J.C., Diedrich, F., Wineland, D.J. (1990). Quantum Optics of Single, Trapped Ions. In: Eberly, J.H., Mandel, L., Wolf, E. (eds) Coherence and Quantum Optics VI. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0847-8_99
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0847-8_99
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