Demonstration of motion transduction in a single-ion nonlinear mechanical oscillator

Abstract

A single trapped ion driven away from the equilibrium position behaves like a Duffing oscillator. We demonstrate in a homebuilt surface-electrode trap (SET) the motion transduction of a trapped-ion oscillator from one dimension to another along with amplification of motional amplitudes and energies under the full control of the radio-frequency drive voltage. The phenomena, originated from different layouts and fabrication asymmetry of the SET, can be understood by complicated Duffing nonlinear equations. Our scheme provides an effective mechanism to investigate very complicated nonlinear behavior in trapped-ion setups and is expected to have extensive applications.