Ultracold Plasmas

Plasma is the most common state of matter in the universe, ranging in temperature from 1000000 K in a pulsar to 300 K in the Earth’s ionosphere. We use ultracold atoms created with laser-cooling techniques and pulsed lasers to create the coldest neutral plasmas ever made, with temperatures as low as ~1 K. They tend to last for less than one millisecond, blown apart by the pressure of the electrons and the recombination of electrons and ions into highly excited (Rydberg) atoms. We are currently studying properties of these ultracold plasmas, including collective modes, plasma instabilities, Rydberg atom production, and magnetic field effects.

Publications:

• Fletcher RS, Zhang XL, Rolston SL
  Observation of collective modes of ultracold plasmas
  PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 96 (10): Art. No. 105003 MAR 17 2006

• Roberts JL, Fertig CD, Lim MJ, et al.
  Electron temperature of ultracold plasmas
  PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 92 (25): Art. No. 253003 JUN 25 2004

• Killian TC, Ashoka VS, Gupta P, et al.
  Ultracold neutral plasmas: recent experiments and new prospects
  JOURNAL OF PHYSICS A-MATHEMATICAL AND GENERAL 36 (22): 6077-6085 JUN 6 2003

• Killian TC, Lim MJ, Kulin S, et al.
  Formation of Rydberg atoms in an expanding ultracold neutral plasma
  PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 86 (17): 3759-3762 APR 23 2001

• Kulin S, Killian TC, Bergeson SD, et al.
  Plasma oscillations and expansion of an ultracold neutral plasma
  PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 85 (2): 318-321 JUL 10 2000

• Killian TC, Kulin S, Bergeson SD, et al.
  Creation of an ultracold neutral plasma
  PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 83 (23): 4776-4779 DEC 6 1999

Graduate Students:

Former Post-docs

• Dr. Jake Roberts (CSU)
• Dr. Chad Fertig (UGa)
• Dr. Michael Lim (Rowan Univ.)
• Dr. Simone Kulin
• Dr. Scott Bergeson (BYU)
• Dr. Tom Killian (Rice Univ.)