Series solution to the laser-ion interaction in a Raman-type configuration

Abstract

The Raman interaction of a trapped ultracold ion with two travelling wave lasers is studied analytically with series solutions, in the absence of the rotating wave approximation (RWA) and the restriction of both the Lamb-Dicke limit and the weak excitation regime. The comparison is made between our solutions and those under the RWA to demonstrate the validity region of the RWA. As a practical example, the preparation of Schr\"odinger-cat states with our solutions is proposed beyond the weak excitation regime.