Hannover 2013 – scientific programme

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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 43: Poster II

Q 43.59: Poster

Wednesday, March 20, 2013, 16:00–18:30, Empore Lichthof

High-resolution microscopy and spectroscopy of rare-earth doped crystals for single ion detection — Tobias Utikal, •Emanuel Eichhammer, Stephan Götzinger, and Vahid Sandoghdar — Max-Planck-Institute for the Science of Light and Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), D-91058 Erlangen, Germany

Rare-earth ion doped crystals have been considered for quantum memory applications due to their narrow spectral features and long spin coherence lifetimes on the order of seconds. While previous studies have worked with large ensembles of ions, many quantum information processing algorithms would benefit from control at the level of single material qubits. In our laboratory, we aim to spectrally isolate single praseodymium ions doped in an yttrium orthosilicate crystal. To address homogeneous linewidths below 100 kHz within an inhomogeneous band of 1 GHz, we have built a frequency-stabilized tunable laser system operating at 488 nm. In addition, we exploit various techniques of high-resolution microscopy to record the faint signal associated with transition lifetimes in the 100 µs. We present spectroscopic data and microscopic images of the system at hand and our progress towards the detection and spectroscopy of single ions.