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arXiv · 2407.18670

Measuring a single atom's position with extreme sub-wavelength resolution and force measurements in the yoctonewton range

P. H. Huber·P. Barthel·Th. Sriarunothai·G. S. Giri·S. Wölk·Ch. Wunderlich
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Abstract

The center-of-mass position of a single trapped atomic ion is measured and tracked in time with high precision. Employing a near-resonant radio frequency field of wavelength 2.37 cm and a static magnetic field gradient of 19 T/m, the spatial location of the ion is determined with an unprecedented wavelength-relative resolution of 5 $\times$ 10$^{-9}$, corresponding to an absolute precision of 0.12 nm. Measurements of an electrostatic force on a single ion demonstrate a sensitivity of 2.2 $\times$ 10$^{-23} ~\text{N}/\sqrt{\text{Hz}}$. The real-time measurement of an atom's position complements the well-established technique of scanning near-field radio frequency transmission microscopy and opens up a novel route to using this method with path breaking spatial and force resolution.

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P. H. Huber, P. Barthel, Th. Sriarunothai, G. S. Giri, S. Wölk, Ch. Wunderlich. 2024-07-26. Measuring a single atom's position with extreme sub-wavelength resolution and force measurements in the yoctonewton range. https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.18670

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