Electron-Temperature Evolution in Expanding Ultracold Neutral Plasmas

Journal Article · Fri Aug 17 04:00:00 EDT 2007 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.99.075005· OSTI ID:21028150

Gupta, P; Laha, S; Simien, C E; Gao, H; Castro, J; Killian, T C; Pohl, T ^[1]

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1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005 (United States)

We have used the free expansion of ultracold neutral plasmas as a time-resolved probe of electron temperature. A combination of experimental measurements of the ion expansion velocity and numerical simulations characterize the crossover from an elastic-collision regime at low initial {gamma}{sub e}, which is dominated by adiabatic cooling of the electrons, to the regime of high {gamma}{sub e} in which inelastic processes drastically heat the electrons. We identify the time scales and relative contributions of various processes, and we experimentally show the importance of radiative decay and disorder-induced electron heating for the first time in ultracold neutral plasmas.

• OSTI ID: 21028150
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 7 Vol. 99; ISSN 0031-9007; ISSN PRLTAO
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ELECTRON TEMPERATURE
ELECTRONS
EXPANSION
PLASMA
PLASMA DENSITY
PLASMA HEATING
PLASMA SIMULATION
RADIATIVE DECAY
TIME RESOLUTION