Phonon Lasing from Optical Frequency Comb Illumination of Trapped Ions
Open Access Publications from the University of California

## Phonon Lasing from Optical Frequency Comb Illumination of Trapped Ions

• Author(s): Ip, M
• Ransford, A
• Jayich, AM
• Long, X
• Roman, C
• Campbell, WC
• et al.

## Published Web Location

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.043201
Abstract

An atomic transition can be addressed by a single tooth of an optical frequency comb if the excited state lifetime ($\tau$) is significantly longer than the pulse repetition period ($T_\mathrm{r}$). In the crossover regime between fully-resolved and unresolved comb teeth ($\tau \lessapprox T_\mathrm{r}$), we observe Doppler cooling of a pre-cooled trapped atomic ion by a single tooth of a frequency-doubled optical frequency comb. We find that for initially hot ions, a multi-tooth effect gives rise to lasing of the ion's harmonic motion in the trap, verified by acoustic injection locking. The gain saturation of this phonon laser action leads to a comb of steady-state oscillation amplitudes, allowing hot ions to be loaded directly into the trap and laser cooled to crystallization despite the presence of hundreds of blue-detuned teeth.

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