Generation of large coherent states by bang-bang control of a trapped-ion oscillator.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 27046513.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/ncomms11243 and PMC identifier 4822070.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Fast control of quantum systems is essential to make use of quantum properties before they degrade by decoherence. This is important for quantum-enhanced information processing, as well as for pushing quantum systems towards the boundary between quantum and classical physics. 'Bang-bang' control attains the ultimate speed limit by making large changes to control fields much faster than the system can respond, but is often challenging to implement experimentally. Here we demonstrate bang-bang control of a trapped-ion oscillator using nanosecond switching of the trapping potentials. We perform controlled displacements with which we realize coherent states with up to 10,000 quanta of energy. We use these displaced states to verify the form of the ion-light interaction at high excitations far outside the usual regime of operation. These methods provide new possibilities for quantum-state manipulation and generation, alongside the potential for a significant increase in operational clock speed for trapped-ion quantum information processing.