Dynamics of confined ions driven by light beams: A singular perturbation approach

Abstract

The probability distribution of a two-level ion confined in a time-dependent nonlinear trapping field and driven by a radiation field is calculated using an alternative treatment based on a singular asymptotic expansion. It is assumed that the ion is excited by electromagnetic radiation and relaxes back irreversibly by spontaneous emission. The present calculations reproduce the quantum results of the laser cooling of ions in static traps in the heavy-particle limit, and previous classical treatments for the confinement and cooling of ions in radio-frequency traps. © 1994 The American Physical Society.