Stochastic Resonance in a Single-Ion Nonlinear Mechanical Oscillator

Stochastic resonance is a counterintuitive phenomenon amplifying the weak periodic signal by application of external noise.We demonstrate the enhancement of a weak periodic signal by stochastic resonance in a trapped-ion oscillator when the oscillator is excited to the nonlinear regime and subject to an appropriate noise.Under the full control of the radio-frequency drive voltage,this amplification originates from the nonlinearity due to asymmetry of the trapping potential,which can be described by a forced Duffing oscillator model.Our scheme and results provide an interesting possibility to make use of controllable nonlinearity in the trapped ion,and pave the way toward a practical atomic sensor for sensitively detecting weak periodic signals from real noisy environment.