A "Schrodinger Cat" Superposition State of an Atom

Abstract

A "Schrodinger cat"-like state of matter was generated at the single atom level. A trapped 9Be + ion was laser-cooled to the zero-point energy and then prepared in a superposition of spatially separated coherent harmonic oscillator states. This state was created by application of a sequence of laser pulses, which entangles internal (electronic) and external (motional) states of the ion. The Schrodinger cat superposition was verified by detection of the quantum mechanical interference between the localized wave packets. This mesoscopic system may provide insight into the fuzzy boundary between the classical and quantum worlds by allowing controlled studies of quantum measurement and quantum decoherence.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 24, 1996
Accession Number
AD1004411

Entities

People

  • B. E. King
  • C. Monroe
  • D. M. Meekhof
  • David J. Wineland

Organizations

  • National Institute of Standards and Technology

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Boundaries
  • Detection
  • Laser Pulses
  • Measurement
  • Oscillators
  • Quantum Decoherence
  • Quantum Measurement
  • Sequences
  • Wave Packets

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Quantum spin resonance or Electron Paramagnetic Resonance spectroscopy.

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Microelectronics
  • Quantum Computing