Enhancing nondestructive mass identification via Fourier-transform fluorescence analysis

Single-ion mass identification is important for atomic and nuclear physics experiments on ions produced with low yields. Cooling the ion to ultralow temperatures through interaction with a laser-cooled ion will enhance the precision of the measurements. In this paper we present axial-common-mode frequency measurements of balanced and unbalanced Coulomb crystals from the Fourier transform of the fluorescence photons from a Doppler-cooling transition in calcium ions after probing the ion crystal with a five-radio-frequency comb. A single ion nondestructively detected can be used for identification, yielding a mass-resolving power <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><a:mrow><a:mi>m</a:mi><a:mo>/</a:mo><a:mi mathvariant="normal">Δ</a:mi><a:msub><a:mi>m</a:mi><a:mi>FWHM</a:mi></a:msub><a:mo>≈</a:mo><a:mn>310</a:mn></a:mrow></a:math> from the axial common mode. This identification can be performed from a single measurement within times below 1 s. Published by the American Physical Society 2024