Ultracold neutral plasmas: recent experiments and new prospects

Design and characterization of a resonant microwave cavity as a diagnostic for ultracold plasmas

We present the design and commissioning of a resonant microwave cavity as a novel diagnostic for the study of ultracold plasmas. This diagnostic is based on the measurements of the shift in the resonance frequency of the cavity, induced by an ultracold plasma that is created from a laser-cooled gas inside. This method is simultaneously non-destructive, very fast (nanosecond temporal resolution), highly sensitive, and applicable to all ultracold plasmas. To create an ultracold plasma, we implement a compact magneto-optical trap based on a diffraction grating chip inside a 5 GHz resonant microwave cavity. We are able to laser cool and trap (7.25 ± 0.03) × 10⁷ rubidium atoms inside the cavity, which are turned into an ultracold plasma by two-step pulsed (nanosecond or femtosecond) photo-ionization. We present a detailed characterization of the cavity, and we demonstrate how it can be used as a fast and sensitive probe to monitor the evolution of ultracold plasmas non-destructively. The temporal resolution of the diagnostic is determined by measuring the delayed frequency shift following femtosecond photo-ionization. We find a response time of 18 ± 2 ns, which agrees well with the value determined from the cavity quality factor and resonance frequency.

Brownian dynamic of laser cooling and crystallization of electron-ion plasma

Laser cooling and crystallization of electron-ion plasma is studied using the Brownian dynamics simulation technique and taking into consideration the interaction of ions with the electron subsystem. It has been shown that the nonlinear dependence of laser friction force on the velocity of ions has to be taken into account in order to simulate in an adequate manner the cooling dynamics and obtain a correct estimate for minimum temperatures. It has been found that times required for formation of an ordered ionic structure can be much longer than the typical plasma cooling time.

Three-body recombination of atomic ions with slow electrons

Using the time-dependent wave-packets method, we have quantum mechanically investigated the three-body recombination process for electron energies varying from 10 to 0.01 eV. The classical "bottleneck" prediction on the probable population was confirmed by our S-wave quantum calculations for electron kinetic energies (K(E)) as low as 0.1 eV. But for K(E)<0.1 eV, the quantum three-body recombination tends to populate lower n levels than the classical theory predicted. We also find that, in the same n level, the recombination tends to populate higher angular-momentum states with K(E) decreasing. These results may shed light on the intrinsic dynamics of both ultracold plasmas and frozen Rydberg gases.

Relaxation to nonequilibrium in expanding ultracold neutral plasmas

We investigate the strongly correlated ion dynamics and the degree of coupling achievable in the evolution of freely expanding ultracold neutral plasmas. We demonstrate that the ionic Coulomb coupling parameter Gamma(i) increases considerably in later stages of the expansion, reaching the strongly coupled regime despite the well known initial drop of Gamma(i) to order unity due to disorder-induced heating. Furthermore, we formulate a suitable measure of correlation and show that Gamma(i) calculated from the ionic temperature and density reflects the degree of order in the system if it is sufficiently close to a quasisteady state. At later times, however, the expansion of the plasma cloud becomes faster than the relaxation of correlations, and the system does not reach thermodynamic equilibrium anymore.

Coulomb crystallization in expanding laser-cooled neutral plasmas

We present long-time simulations of expanding ultracold neutral plasmas, including a full treatment of the strongly coupled ion dynamics. Thereby, the relaxation of the expanding laser-cooled plasma is studied, taking into account elastic as well as inelastic collisions. It is demonstrated that, depending on the initial conditions, the ionic component of the plasma may exhibit short-range order or even a superimposed long-range order resulting in concentric ion shells. In contrast to ionic plasmas confined in traps, the shell structures build up from the center of the plasma cloud rather than from the periphery.

Using absorption imaging to study ion dynamics in an ultracold neutral plasma

We report optical absorption imaging of ultracold neutral strontium plasmas. The ion absorption spectrum determined from the images is Doppler broadened and thus provides a quantitative measure of the ion kinetic energy. For the particular plasma conditions studied, ions heat rapidly as they equilibrate during the first 250 ns after plasma formation. Equilibration leaves ions on the border between the weakly coupled gaseous and strongly coupled liquid states. On a longer time scale of microseconds, pressure exerted by the trapped electron gas accelerates the ions radially.