Measurement-induced vibrational dynamics of a trapped ion

Excitation spectra of an individual trapped Ba-138(+) ion show sidebands of radial and axial ion vibration in the trap. The second-order sidebands involving radial and axial vibrations would allow swapping these vibrational states; they represent an inverse Raman effect with the role of electronic and vibrational excitation interchanged. Deexcitation sidebands differ from excitation sidebands as the vibrational distribution in the D-5/2 level is modified by the ion being reduced to this level in null observations of resonance light. Delayed deexcitation goes along with stochastic cooling that makes the ion collapse into the Fock state \n = 1]. sideband modulation is identified as stroboscopic detection of the light-induced nutation on a vibrational transition with Delta n = +/-1.