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Feedback cooling and thermometry of a single trapped ion using a knife edge

Hans Dang1,2,*,†, Sebastian Luff1,2,*,‡, Martin Fischer2, Markus Sondermann1,2,3, and Gerd Leuchs1,2,4

  • *These authors contributed equally to this work.
  • †Contact author: hans.dang@mpl.mpg.de
  • ‡Contact author: sebastian.luff@mpl.mpg.de
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Phys. Rev. A 113, 063717 – Published 11 June, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/mlv7-kpy1

Abstract

We report on a simple and easy to implement method of feedback cooling trapped ions to temperatures below those achievable using only Doppler cooling. Additionally, the feedback cooling results in significantly shorter cooling times. For selected parameters, we demonstrate cooling to temperatures below ℏΓ/2kB. The motion of a single ion is monitored in real time, allowing for the generation of a feedback signal that is applied to an auxiliary trap electrode. Motion detection is implemented by imaging the fluorescence photons emitted by the ion onto a knife edge and detecting the transmitted light, a method used so far to cool trapped nanoparticles. The intensity modulation of the fluorescence resulting from the ion motion is used to generate and apply the feedback signal and also to determine the ion temperature. While the method benefits from a high rate of detected scattered photons, which can be a challenge, and which we address by using a parabolic mirror for collecting the fluorescence, we expect the method to also be applicable when using lenses with moderate numerical apertures.

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Phys. Rev. A 113, 063717– Published 11 June, 2026
  • Received 19 December 2025
  • Accepted 26 May 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI. Open access publication funded by Max Planck Society.

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