SPECTRUM OF RESONANCE FLUORESCENCE FROM A SINGLE TRAPPED ION

The spectrum of resonance fluorescence of a single trapped and laser-c ooled ion is studied theoretically. The quantum motion of the trapped particle manifests itself in the form of narrow motional sidebands in the fluorescence spectrum. For our calculations it is assumed that the ion is confined to dimensions much smaller than the optical wavelengt h (Lamb-Dicke limit) and the approach is valid for multilevel systems, general trapping potentials, and for both traveling-wave and standing -wave configurations. The motional sidebands in the spectrum have asym metric amplitudes and this asymmetry is shown to depend on the ion ene rgy, the detector position, and the choice of standing- or traveling-w ave laser excitation.