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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Towards Stronger Coulomb Coupling In An Ultracold Neutral Plasma, Mary Elizabeth Lyon
Towards Stronger Coulomb Coupling In An Ultracold Neutral Plasma, Mary Elizabeth Lyon
Theses and Dissertations
Ultracold neutral plasmas are created by photoionizing laser-cooled atoms in a magneto-optical trap (MOT). Due to their large electrical potential energies and comparatively small kinetic energies, ultracold plasmas fall into a regime of plasma systems which are called “strongly coupled.” A priority in the field of ultracold plasmas is to generate plasmas with higher values of the strong coupling parameter Γ, which is given as the ratio of the nearest-neighbor Coulomb potential energy to the average kinetic energy. The equilibrium strong coupling in ultracold plasmas is limited by the ultrafast relaxation of the ions due to spatial disorder in the …
Electron Screening And Disorder-Induced Heating In Ultracold Neutral Plasmas, Mary Elizabeth Lyon
Electron Screening And Disorder-Induced Heating In Ultracold Neutral Plasmas, Mary Elizabeth Lyon
Theses and Dissertations
Disorder-induced heating (DIH) is a nonequilibrium, ultrafast relaxation process that occurs when laser-cooled atoms are photoionized to make an ultracold plasma. Its effects dominate the ion motion during the first 100 ns of the plasma evolution. Using tools of atomic physics we study DIH with ns time resolution for different plasma densities and temperatures. By changing the frequency of the laser beam we use to probe the ions, we map out the time evolution of the velocity distribution. We can compare this to a fluorescence simulation in order to more clearly determine the relationship between the fluorescence signal and the …
Optical Detection Of Ultracold Neutral Calcium Plasmas, Elizabeth Ann Cummings
Optical Detection Of Ultracold Neutral Calcium Plasmas, Elizabeth Ann Cummings
Theses and Dissertations
We demonstrate an optical method to detect calcium ions in an ultracold plasma. We probe the plasma with a 397 nm laser beam tuned to a calcium ion transition. The probe laser beam is focused to a 160 µm waist allowing fine spatial resolution. Ions are detected by measuring fluorescence using a Photo-Multiplier Tube (PMT). The signal, an average of 4000 acquisitions, has a temporal resolution of 120 ns. We present the details of this method, potential improvements, and prospects of imaging the expanding plasma ions. We also present preliminary work on spatially resolved absorption measurements, as well as additional …