Author: ["K. Vahala","M. Herrmann","S. Knünz","V. Batteiger","G. Saathoff","T. W. Hänsch","Th. Udem"]
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Abstract
Red-detuned laser pumping of an atomic resonance will cool the motion of an ion or atom. The complementary regime of blue-detuned pumping is investigated in this work using a single, trapped Mg+ ion interacting with two laser beams, tuned above and below resonance. Widely thought of as a regime of heating, theory and experiment instead show that stimulated emission of centre-of-mass phonons occurs, providing saturable amplification of the motion. A threshold for transition from thermal to coherent oscillating motion has been observed, thus establishing this system as a mechanical analogue to an optical laser—a phonon laser. Such a system has been sought in many different physical contexts. Pumping an atomic system with light at a wavelength that is longer than its resonance can lead to cooling. Conversely, it is now shown that pumping with shorter-wavelength light can lead to the stimulated emission of phonons—in analogy to the amplification of photons in lasers.Cite this article
Vahala, K., Herrmann, M., Knünz, S. et al. A phonon laser. Nature Phys 5, 682–686 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys1367 