A quantum sensor for high-performance mass spectrometry

作者：Rodriguez D^*

来源：Applied Physics B: Lasers and Optics , 2012, 107(4): 1031-1042.

DOI：10.1007/s00340-011-4824-5

A novel device, called quantum sensor, has been conceived to measure the mass of a single ion with ultimate accuracy and unprecedented sensitivity while the ion is stored and cooled in a trap. The quantum sensor consists of a single calcium ion as sensor, which is laser cooled to mK temperatures and stored in a second trap connected to the trap for the ion under study by a common endcap. The cyclotron motion of the ion under investigation is transformed into axial motion along the magnetic field lines and coupled to the sensor ion by the image current induced in the common endcap. The axial motion of the sensor ion in turn is monitored spatially resolved by its fluorescence light. In this way the detection of phonons can be upgraded to a detection of photons. This device will allow one to overcome recent limitations in high-precision mass spectrometry.

• 出版日期2012-6