Quantum optics with trapped ions
Richard Claude Thompson · AIP conference proceedings · 1999
In these lecture notes, I describe the use of ion traps in experimental investigations of quantum optics. Ion traps are well suited to this type of investigation because of the well-controlled conditions under which ions are held in traps and because they are well isolated from the environment. The notes start with an account of the way that ion traps work, concentrating on the radiofrequency or Paul trap. The techniques of laser cooling in ion traps are then discussed. The rest of the notes deal with various experimental studies undertaken in quantum optics with trapped ions, including observations of quantum jumps: the quantum Zeno effect; cavity quantum electrodynamics; frequency standards; nonclassical states; and quantum logic gates. These notes do not attempt to give a full account of the theory of these phenomena, but rather to give an idea of the very wide range of investigations that have been undertaken with ion traps and the potential they show for future investigations in quantum optics and other fields.