Abstract
In near-field imaging, resolution beyond the diffraction limit of optical microscopy is obtained by scanning the sampling region with a probe of subwavelength size1. In recent experiments, single molecules were used as nanoscopic probes to attain a resolution of a few tens of nanometres2,3. Positional control of the molecular probe was typically achieved by embedding it in a crystal attached to a substrate on a translation stage. However, the presence of the host crystal inevitably led to a disturbance of the light field that was to be measured. Here we report a near-field probe with atomic-scale resolution—a single calcium ion in a radio-frequency trap—that causes minimal perturbation of the optical field. We measure the three-dimensional spatial structure of an optical field with a spatial resolution as high as 60 nm (determined by the residual thermal motion of the trapped ion), and scan the modes of a low-loss optical cavity over a range of up to 100 µm. The precise positioning we achieve implies a deterministic control of the coupling between ion and field. At the same time, the field and the internal states of the ion are not affected by the trapping potential. Our set-up is therefore an ideal system for performing cavity quantum electrodynamics4,5 experiments with a single particle.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Pohl, D. W., Denk, W. & Lanz, M. Optical stethoscopy: image recording with resolution λ/20. Appl. Phys. Lett. 44, 651–653 (1984).
Betzig, E. & Chichester, R. J. Single molecules observed by near-field scanning optical microscopy. Science 262, 1422–1425 (1993).
Michaelis, J., Hettich, C., Mlynek, J. & Sandoghdar, V. Optical microscopy using a single-molecule light source. Nature 405, 325–328 (2000).
Hood, C. J., Lynn, T. W., Doherty, A. C., Parkins, A. S. & Kimble, H. J. The atom-cavity microscope: Single atoms bound in orbit by single photons. Science 287, 1447–1453 (2000).
Pinkse, P. W. H., Fischer, T., Maunz, P. & Rempe, G. Trapping an atom with single photons. Nature 404, 365–368 (2000).
Michaelis, J. et al. A single molecule as a probe of optical intensity distribution. Opt. Lett. 24, 581–583 (1999).
Sick, B., Hecht, B., Wild, U. P. & Novotny, L. Probing confined fields with single molecules and vice versa. J. Microsc. 202, 365–373 (2001).
Gotzinger, S., Demmerer, S., Benson, O. & Sandoghdar, V. Mapping and manipulating whispering gallery modes of a microsphere resonator with a near-field probe. J. Microsc. 202, 117–121 (2001).
Veerman, J. A., Garcia-Parajo, M. F., Kuipers, L. & Van Hulst, N. F. Single molecule mapping of the optical field distribution of probes for near-field microscopy. J. Microsc. 194, 477–482 (1999).
Höffges, J. T., Baldauf, H. W., Eichler, T., Helmfrid, S. R. & Walther, H. Heterodyne measurement of the fluorescent radiation of a single trapped ion. Opt. Commun. 133, 170–174 (1997).
Höffges, J. T., Baldauf, H. W., Lange, W. & Walther, H. Heterodyne measurement of the resonance fluorescence of a single ion. J. Mod. Opt. 44, 1999–2010 (1997).
Monroe, C. et al. Resolved-side-band Raman cooling of a bound atom to the 3D zero-point energy. Phys. Rev. Lett. 75, 4011–4014 (1995).
Peik, E., Abel, J., Becker, T., von Zanthier, J. & Walther, H. Sideband cooling of ions in radio-frequency traps. Phys. Rev. A 60, 439–449 (1999).
Roos, C. F. et al. Experimental demonstration of ground state laser cooling with electromagnetically induced transparency. Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 5547–5550 (2000).
Meekhof, D. M., Monroe, C., King, B. E., Itano, W. M. & Wineland, D. J. Generation of nonclassical motional states of a trapped atom. Phys. Rev. Lett. 76, 1796–1799 (1996).
Law, C. K. & Kimble, H. J. Deterministic generation of a bit-stream of single-photon pulses. J. Mod. Opt. 44, 2067–2074 (1997).
Hennrich, M., Legero, T., Kuhn, A. & Rempe, G. Vacuum-stimulated Raman scattering based on adiabatic passage in a high-finesse optical cavity. Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 4872–4875 (2000).
Meyer, G. M., Briegel, H. J. & Walther, H. Ion-trap laser. Europhys. Lett. 37, 317–322 (1997).
Diedrich, F. & Walther, H. Nonclassical radiation of a single stored ion. Phys. Rev. Lett. 58, 203–206 (1987).
Pellizzari, T., Gardiner, S. A., Cirac, J. I. & Zoller, P. Decoherence, continuous observation, and quantum computing—a cavity QED model. Phys. Rev. Lett. 75, 3788–3791 (1995).
Zheng, S. B. & Guo, G. C. Efficient scheme for two-atom entanglement and quantum information processing in cavity QED. Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 2392–2395 (2000).
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the European IST/FET programme QUBITS and by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Guthöhrlein, G., Keller, M., Hayasaka, K. et al. A single ion as a nanoscopic probe of an optical field. Nature 414, 49–51 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35102129
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/35102129
This article is cited by
-
Enhanced ion–cavity coupling through cavity cooling in the strong coupling regime
Scientific Reports (2020)
-
Transfer of optical orbital angular momentum to a bound electron
Nature Communications (2016)
-
Technologies for trapped-ion quantum information systems
Quantum Information Processing (2016)
-
Monolayer graphene as dissipative membrane in an optical resonator
Applied Physics B (2016)
-
Three-dimensional imaging of cavity vacuum with single atoms localized by a nanohole array
Nature Communications (2014)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
