Erlangen 2018 – scientific programme

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A: Fachverband Atomphysik

A 42: Poster Session IIIb

A 42.22: Poster

Thursday, March 8, 2018, 16:15–18:15, Zelt Ost

An Autonomous Clock Based on a Single-Ion Phonon Laser — •Martin Wagener, David von Lindenfels, Thomas Ruster, Ulrich Poschinger, and Ferdinand Schmidt-Kaler — Institut für Physik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz

Self-oscillating systems are ubiquitous in nature and technology and can evidently be used for time keeping. Recent theoretical work shows that there exists a connection between time measurement accuracy and thermodynamics [1]. These results suggest, that the minimum dissipated heat is bounded by the clock accuracy and vice versa.

To test this hypothesis in an experiment, we use laser-induced oscillation of a single Ca⁺ ion in a Paul trap as a time keeping device. Simultaneous irradiation of cw laser beams red and blue detuned from an optical transition leads to a sustained oscillation at a secular trap frequency - an effect which has been coined ’phonon laser’ [2]. We present ongoing measurements investigating the connection between the ion’s total photon scattering rate, i.e. the dissipated heat, and the stability of the oscillation in order to test the universality of the connection between time measurements and thermodynamics.

[1] P. Erker et al., Phys. Rev. X 7, 031022 (2017)

[2] K. Vahala et al., Nature Physics 5.9, 682 (2009)