Studies of Ultracold Neutral Plasma

University Of Maryland, College Park, College Park MD

Investigators

Abstract

The research will explore the properties of ultra-cold plasmas. The researchers of this project developed a technique that starts with laser-cooled atoms to produce ultracold plasmas, with temperatures as low as a few K. This work will continue to study the properties of ultracold plasmas as they expand into vacuum. The researchers will investigate how to excite and probe collective excitations of the plasma, to gain insight into the physics underlying the ultra-cold plasma and its dynamics. They will explore nonlinear instabilities that lead to bursts of emitted electrons. They will adapt methods from plasma physics to magnetically confine the plasma, which will allow longer periods of time for investigations, as well as change the dynamics related to the expansion process. The researchers have shown that such a plasma can in part recombine into highly excited Rydberg atoms and propose in this work develop techniques to measure the Rydberg atoms in a way that does not destroy the plasma. This will allow insight into the recombination process as well as modifying the dynamics of the system. This research is exploratory, investigating regimes of physical system that have not previously been explored, or theoretically treated, residing at the boundary between atomic physics and plasma physics. There are potential applications in several different scientific and technical areas. Graduate and undergraduate students will be trained in state-of-the-art optical techniques, along with gaining experience with high vacuum, analog, RF, and digital electronics, and computer-based data acquisition. They will be in an environment that exposes them to a wide variety of physics.