Hannover 2013 – scientific programme
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A: Fachverband Atomphysik
A 6: Ultra-cold atoms, ions and BEC II (with Q)
A 6.8: Talk
Monday, March 18, 2013, 15:45–16:00, F 428
A single ion coupled to an optical fibre cavity — •Matthias Steiner1, Hendrik-Marten Meyer1, Christian Deutsch2, Jakob Reichel2, and Michael Köhl1 — 1Department of Physics, University of Cambridge, Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, United Kingdom — 2Laboratoire Kastler-Brossel, ENS/UPMC-Paris 6/CNRS, F-75005 Paris, France
The development of an efficient ion-photon interface is a major challenge which needs to be overcome to realize large scale ion-based quantum networks. Such an interface could consist of a single ion coupled to a high finesse optical cavity. Existing ion-cavity systems operate in a regime, where the coupling of light and ion is smaller than the excited state decay rate[1]. In order to enhance the coupling, smaller cavity mode volumes must be used.
We report on the realization of a combined trapped-ion and optical cavity system, in which a single Yb+ ion is confined by a micron-scale ion trap inside a 230 µm-long optical fibre cavity. We characterize the spatial ion-cavity coupling and measure the ion-cavity coupling strength using a cavity-stimulated Λ-transition [2]. Owing to the small mode volume, the coherent coupling strength between the ion and a single photon exceeds the natural decay rate of the dipole moment. Our results demonstrate that stable trapping of single ions in close vicinity of dielectric surfaces does not impose fundamental problems, even at room temperature.
[1] G. R. Guthöhrlein et al., Nature, 414, (2001).
[2] M. Steiner et al, arXiv:1211.0050.