An ultracold neutral plasma

Journal Article · Fri Dec 10 04:00:00 EST 1999 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1302136· OSTI ID:21210373

Kulin, Simone; Killian, Thomas C; Orzel, Chad; Rolston, Steven L ^[1]; Bergeson, Scott D ^[2]; Orozco, Luis A ^[3]

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1. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899-8424 (United States)
2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 84602-4640 (United States)
3. Department of Physics and Astronomy, State University of New York, Stony Brook, New York 11794-3800 (United States)

We present the first experiment to observe an ultracold neutral plasma. The plasma, which was created by photoionization of laser cooled atoms, has charge densities as high as 2x10{sup 9} cm{sup -3}, and the temperatures of electrons and ions are as low as 100 mK and 10 {mu}K, respectively. The plasma has a lifetime of about 100 {mu}s, much longer than predicted by recombination rates. When the laser that excites the atoms is tuned below the ionization limit we create a sample of very highly excited cold Rydberg atoms. At our highest densities and during a time of a few microseconds, in which the Rydberg atoms are essentially stationary, the ensemble evolves towards an unbound plasma-like state.

• OSTI ID: 21210373
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Journal Name: AIP Conference Proceedings Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 498; ISSN APCPCS; ISSN 0094-243X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ATOMS
CHARGE DENSITY
COOLING
ELECTRON TEMPERATURE
ELECTRONS
ION TEMPERATURE
LASER RADIATION
LIFETIME
PHOTOIONIZATION
PLASMA
PLASMA PRODUCTION
RECOMBINATION
RYDBERG STATES
XENON IONS