GENERATION OF NONCLASSICAL MOTIONAL STATES OF A TRAPPED ATOM

We report the creation of thermal, Fock, coherent, and squeezed states of motion of a harmonically bound Be-9(+) ion. The last three states are coherently prepared from an ion which has been initially laser coo led to the zero point of motion. The ion is trapped in the regime wher e the coupling between its motional and internal states, due to applie d (classical) radiation, can be described by a Jaynes-Cummings-type in teraction. With this coupling, the evolution of the internal atomic st ate provides a signature of the number state distribution of the motio n.