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Measurement of Extracellular Ion Fluxes Using the Ion-selective Self-referencing Microelectrode Technique

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Ultrasensitive single-ion electrometry in a magnetic field gradient.

F Bonus^1,2,3, C Knapp¹, C H Valahu^1,4

¹Sussex Centre for Quantum Technologies, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.

|August 15, 2025

Summary

Trapped ions can now sense electric fields with unprecedented sensitivity. A novel technique amplifies the ion

Keywords:

Atomic and molecular physics Quantum mechanics Quantum metrology Quantum physics

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Area of Science:

Quantum sensing
Atomic physics
Electric field metrology

Background:

Trapped ions possess long-lived spin states and strong coupling to electric fields, making them promising for quantum sensing.
Limited intrinsic coupling between ion spin states and electric fields restricts achievable sensitivity in current quantum sensors.
Existing methods struggle with precise detection of both static (d.c.) and alternating (a.c.) electric fields.

Purpose of the Study:

To enhance the sensitivity of trapped-ion-based electric field quantum sensors.
To develop a method for amplifying the coupling between electric field perturbations and ion spin states.
To enable high-precision measurements of d.c. and a.c. electric fields using established magnetometry techniques.

Main Methods:

Utilized a static magnetic field gradient to amplify the interaction between electric field perturbations and trapped ion spin states.
Mapped ion displacements due to electric fields to changes in internal spin state energy-level splitting.
Employed rotating-frame relaxometry for electric field noise spectrum analysis.

Main Results:

Demonstrated a gradient-mediated coupling mechanism enabling sensitive electric field measurements.
Successfully adapted magnetometry protocols for high-precision electrometry.
Showcased the quantum sensor's capability as an electric field noise spectrum analyzer.

Conclusions:

The developed technique significantly enhances electric field sensing capabilities of trapped ions.
This approach bridges magnetometry and electrometry for superior electric field detection.
Proposed hardware modifications offer potential for a six-orders-of-magnitude sensitivity improvement.