Chirped laser pulses for rapid adiabatic passage in trapped ions

Abstract

This work investigates the use of chirped picosecond laser pulses to induce rapid adiabatic passage (RAP) in a single trapped ion, aiming for population inversion between two quantum states. A theoretical framework for RAP linearly chirped pulses is developed, and a novel method to characterise ultrashort pulses is introduced. Numerical simulations solving the Schrödinger equation confirm that RAP leads to state transitions with 100% probability in the resonant regime, independent of the pulse area. The effects of a detuning between the transition and pulse frequencies on the transition probability are also analysed, revealing a linear dependence between the transition probability curve size and the pulse width.