  The interaction of a trapped ion with a laser beam in the strong excitation
regime is analyzed. In this regime, a variety of non--classical states of
motion can be prepared either by using laser pulses of well defined area, or by
an adiabatic passage scheme based on the variation of the laser frequency. We
show how these states can be used to investigate fundamental properties of
quantum mechanics. We also study possible applications of this system to build
an ion interferometer.
