Laser Cooling and Trapping an Ultracold Neutral Plasma

本研究计划主要是将雷射冷却及捕捉技术的能量应用于一个新的系统-超冷中性电浆。这代表了一种全新的中性等离子体约束模式，它将使强耦合，复合和冷电子-离子碰撞和热化的基础实验成为可能。超冷中性等离子体是由激光冷却的原子在电离阈值以上光电离产生的。因此，拟议研究的一个重要部分将涉及表征带电粒子的动力学。吸收成像，一种最近用超冷等离子体证明的诊断方法，将使这成为可能。更广泛的影响涉及研究生和本科生的教育，致力于多样性和AMO物理与等离子体物理的耦合。

This research project focuses on the application of the power of laser cooling and trapping techniques to a new system - ultracold neutral plasmas. This represents a completely new mode of neutral plasma confinement, and it will enable fundamental experiments on strong coupling, recombination, and cold electron-ion collisions and thermalization. Ultracold neutral plasmas are produced by photoionizing laser cooled atoms just above the ionization threshold. A significant fraction of the proposed research will thus involve characterizing the dynamics of the charged particles. Absorption imaging, a diagnostic recently demonstrated with ultracold plasmas, will make this possible. The broader impact involves education of both graduate and undergraduate students, commitments to diversity and coupling of AMO physics with plasma physics.