Engineering Artificial Atomic Systems of Giant Electric Dipole Moment

Phys Rev Lett. 2024 Feb 16;132(7):073202. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.073202.

Abstract

The electric dipole moment (EDM) plays a crucial role in determining the interaction strength of an atom with electric fields, making it paramount to quantum technologies based on coherent atomic control. We propose a scheme for engineering the potential in a Paul trap to realize a two-level quantum system with a giant EDM formed by the motional states of a trapped electron. We show that, under realistic experimental conditions, our system exhibits enhanced EDMs compared to those attainable with Rydberg atoms, serving as a complementary counterpart in the megahertz (MHz) resonance-frequency range. Furthermore, we show that such artificial atomic dipoles can be efficiently initialized, read out, and coherently controlled, thereby providing a potential platform for quantum technologies such as ultrahigh-sensitivity electric-field sensing.