title: Generation of large coherent states by bang-bang control of a trapped-ion oscillator.
abstract: Fast control of quantum systems is essential to make use of quantum properties before they degrade by decoherence. This is important for quantum-enhanced information processing, as well as for pushing quantum systems towards the boundary between quantum and classical physics. 'Bang-bang' control attains the ultimate speed limit by making large changes to control fields much faster than the system can respond, but is often challenging to implement experimentally. Here we demonstrate bang-bang control of a trapped-ion oscillator using nanosecond switching of the trapping potentials. We perform controlled displacements with which we realize coherent states with up to 10,000 quanta of energy. We use these displaced states to verify the form of the ion-light interaction at high excitations far outside the usual regime of operation. These methods provide new possibilities for quantum-state manipulation and generation, alongside the potential for a significant increase in operational clock speed for trapped-ion quantum information processing.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Quantum Electronics, ETH Zürich, Otto-Stern-Weg 1, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: J
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2721-1380
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Alonso
authors.affiliation: Institute for Quantum Electronics, ETH Zürich, Otto-Stern-Weg 1, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: F M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Leupold
authors.affiliation: Institute for Quantum Electronics, ETH Zürich, Otto-Stern-Weg 1, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Z U
authors.initials: ZU
authors.lastname: Solèr
authors.affiliation: Institute for Quantum Electronics, ETH Zürich, Otto-Stern-Weg 1, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fadel
authors.affiliation: Institute for Quantum Electronics, ETH Zürich, Otto-Stern-Weg 1, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marinelli
authors.affiliation: Institute for Quantum Electronics, ETH Zürich, Otto-Stern-Weg 1, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: B C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Keitch
authors.affiliation: Institute for Quantum Electronics, ETH Zürich, Otto-Stern-Weg 1, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Negnevitsky
authors.affiliation: Institute for Quantum Electronics, ETH Zürich, Otto-Stern-Weg 1, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Home