TRAPPED IONS IN THE STRONG-EXCITATION REGIME - ION INTERFEROMETRY ANDNONCLASSICAL STATES

The interaction of a trapped ion with a laser beam in the strong-excit ation regime is analyzed. In this regime, a variety of nonclassical st ates of motion can be prepared either by using laser pulses of well de fined area, or by an adiabatic passage scheme based on the variation o f the laser frequency. We show how these states can be used to investi gate fundamental properties of quantum mechanics. We also study possib le applications of this system to build an ion interferometer.