Precision Measurement of Collisions under Conditions of Extreme Electron Magnetization via Off-resonant Radiofrequency Heating of Ultracold Neutral Plasmas
Abstract
In this work, ultracold neutral plasmas (UNPs) will be measured experimentally to investigate the effect of electron magnetization on fundamental plasma properties such as electron-ion collision rates and Rydberg atom formation rates. The low densities and electron temperatures of ultracold neutral plasmas (UNPs) make it possible to achieve so-called extreme degrees of electron magnetization with only moderate laboratory magnetic fields. Extreme magnetization is characterized by parameters where the length scale that characterizes the electron magnetization (the electron Larmor radius) is smaller than any other relevant length scale, meaning that magnetization would be expected to be a significant consideration for transport, screening, and binary collision properties of the plasma. The up to 1000G fields that can be applied to the UNPs in this work correspond to degrees of magnetization that would require Giga-Gauss fields in hotter plasmas. UNPs are thus well-suited for the laboratory study of extreme magnetization effects. Through scaling relations, the experimental results obtained in UNP experiments can be compared to other plasmas and used to inform the theoretical description of magnetized electron effects in those systems.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jan 21, 2022
- Source ID
- FA95502110340XX0
Entities
People
- Jacob L. Roberts
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Colorado State University
- United States Air Force