Probing Time Dilation in Coulomb Crystals in a High-Precision Ion Trap

authored by: J. Keller, D. Kalincev, T. Burgermeister, A. P. Kulosa, A. Didier, T. Nordmann, J. Kiethe, T. E. Mehlstäubler
Abstract: Trapped-ion optical clocks are capable of achieving systematic fractional frequency uncertainties of 10-18 and possibly below. However, the stability of current ion clocks is fundamentally limited by the weak signal of single-ion interrogation. We present an operational, scalable platform for extending clock spectroscopy to arrays of Coulomb crystals consisting of several tens of ions while allowing systematic shifts as low as 10-19. We observe three-dimensional excess micromotion amplitudes inside a Coulomb crystal with atomic spatial resolution and subnanometer amplitude uncertainties, and show that in ion Coulomb crystals of length 400μm and 2 mm, time-dilation shifts of In+ ions due to micromotion can be close to 1×10-19 and below 10-18, respectively. In previous ion traps, excess micromotion would have dominated the uncertainty budget for spectroscopy of even a few ions. By minimizing its contribution and providing a means to quantify it, we open up a path to precision spectroscopy in many-body ion systems, enabling entanglement-enhanced ion clocks and providing a well-controlled, strongly coupled quantum system.
External Organisation(s): Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt PTB
Type: Article
Journal: Physical review applied
Volume: 11
ISSN: 2331-7019
Publication date: 07.01.2019
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: General Physics and Astronomy
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.11.011002 (Access: Unknown)

BibTeX

@article{a1d74e3bce384d5284c8b1aab7e20005,
title = "Probing Time Dilation in Coulomb Crystals in a High-Precision Ion Trap",
abstract = "Trapped-ion optical clocks are capable of achieving systematic fractional frequency uncertainties of 10-18 and possibly below. However, the stability of current ion clocks is fundamentally limited by the weak signal of single-ion interrogation. We present an operational, scalable platform for extending clock spectroscopy to arrays of Coulomb crystals consisting of several tens of ions while allowing systematic shifts as low as 10-19. We observe three-dimensional excess micromotion amplitudes inside a Coulomb crystal with atomic spatial resolution and subnanometer amplitude uncertainties, and show that in ion Coulomb crystals of length 400μm and 2 mm, time-dilation shifts of In+ ions due to micromotion can be close to 1×10-19 and below 10-18, respectively. In previous ion traps, excess micromotion would have dominated the uncertainty budget for spectroscopy of even a few ions. By minimizing its contribution and providing a means to quantify it, we open up a path to precision spectroscopy in many-body ion systems, enabling entanglement-enhanced ion clocks and providing a well-controlled, strongly coupled quantum system.",
author = "J. Keller and D. Kalincev and T. Burgermeister and Kulosa, {A. P.} and A. Didier and T. Nordmann and J. Kiethe and Mehlst{\"a}ubler, {T. E.}",
note = "Funding information: We thank M. Drewsen for helpful discussions on intensifier gating electronics, N. Beev for developing the circuit, Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt departments 5.3 and 5.5 for collaboration on trap fabrication, and S.A. King for helpful comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by the DFG through Grants No. ME3648/1-1 and SFB 1227 (DQ-mat), project B03.",
year = "2019",
month = jan,
day = "7",
doi = "10.1103/PhysRevApplied.11.011002",
language = "English",
volume = "11",
journal = "Physical review applied",
issn = "2331-7019",
publisher = "American Physical Society",
number = "1",
}