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Abstract

We present a technique based on high resolution imaging to measure the absolute temperature and the heating rate of a single ion trapped at the focus of a deep parabolic mirror. We collect the fluorescence light scattered by the ion during laser cooling and image it onto a camera. Accounting for the size of the point-spread function and the magnification of the imaging system, we determine the spatial extent of the ion, from which we infer the mean phonon occupation number in the trap. Repeating such measurements and varying the power or the detuning of the cooling laser, we determine the heating rate induced by any kind of effect other than photon scattering. In contrast to other established schemes for measuring the heating rate, the ion is always maintained in a state of thermal equilibrium at temperatures close to the Doppler limit.