In an ion trap, quantum jumps can be directly observed by addressing a trapped ion with radiation at two different frequencies to drive electron transitions. This requires one strong and one weak transition to be excited (denoted ω ω 12 and ω ω 13 respectively in the figure to the right). The electron energy level, | 2 ⟩ ⟩ , has a short lifetime, Γ Γ 2 which allows for constant emission of photons at a frequency ω ω 12 which can be collected by a camera and/or photomultiplier tube. State | 3 ⟩ ⟩ has a relatively long lifetime Γ Γ 3 which causes an interruption of the photon emission as the electron gets shelved in state through application of light with frequency ω ω 13. The ion going dark is a direct observation of quantum jumps.