Penning ion traps containing hundreds of ions held in a 2D crystal can be used to sense weak electric fields. We couple the crystal’s center-of-mass (CM) mode to the ions’ spin states, such that small perturbations of the crystal motion caused by external electric fields can be determined by measuring the spin precession. We have demonstrated a sensitivity to small displacements of 8.8 dB below the standard quantum limit (SQL), which enables an electric field sensitivity of 240 nV/m in 1 second. We plan to increase this sensitivity by parametrically amplifying the CM motion, which we expect to improve our sensitivity to displacements by a further 10 dB below the SQL.
Supported by an appointment to the Intelligence Community Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program, AFOSR grant FA9550-20-1-0019, by DARPA ONISQ, and by DOE, Office of Science, NQIS Research Center QSA
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