A study of ion oscillations in the annular regions of a strontium plasma is reported. An ultracold neutral plasma is formed by photoionizing the 1 P 1 electrons using a pulsed dye laser' and absorption spectroscopy is done on the 2 S ½ - 2 P ½ transition of the Sr+ ion. The kinetic energy of the ions is then calculated using Doppler broadening of the spectrum. The variation of temperature with time is fit to a theoretical model of kinetic energy oscillation. The result of the fitting is presented in this thesis. The importance of an annular analysis of the absorption spectrum is demonstrated and the mathematical procedures employed to calculate the kinetic energy are developed. The oscillations are observed to be damped which is a characteristic of strongly coupled plasmas.

Neste trabalho nós produzimos um plasma neutro ultrafrio de 85Rb através da fotoionização dos átomos aprisionados em uma armadilha magneto-óptica. Medimos o número de partículas que evaporam do plasma no momento de sua criação usando a técnica de tempo-de-vôo. A partir disto realizamos o estudo da taxa de evaporação com relação a energia cinética inicial do elétron fornecida ao sistema, onde para isto criamos o plasma com diferentes comprimentos de onda do laser de fotoinização. Nossos resultados indicam que conforme fornecemos mais energia ao sistema mais partículas evaporam e constatamos que está de acordo com a literatura. Interpretamos o resultado com um modelo analítico que considera a distribuição de energia de Maxwell-Boltzmann e encontramos a temperatura do plasma com relação a temperatura inicial dos elétrons / In this work we produced an ultracold neutral plasma of 85Rb formed by the photoionization of laser-cooled atoms. We measured the number of particles evaporated from the plasma in the moment of its formation using the time-of-flight technique. After this, we studied the evaporation rate as a function of the initial electron kinetic energy, for this we created the plasma at different wavelengths of the photoinization laser. Our results indicate that as we supplied more energy to the system more particles evaporate and we verified that it is in agreement with the literature. We interpreted the result with an analytic model that considers the Maxwell-Boltzmann energy distribution and we found the plasma temperature as a function initial electron temperature

Neste trabalho nós produzimos um plasma neutro ultrafrio de 85Rb através da fotoionização dos átomos aprisionados em uma armadilha magneto-óptica. Medimos o número de partículas que evaporam do plasma no momento de sua criação usando a técnica de tempo-de-vôo. A partir disto realizamos o estudo da taxa de evaporação com relação a energia cinética inicial do elétron fornecida ao sistema, onde para isto criamos o plasma com diferentes comprimentos de onda do laser de fotoinização. Nossos resultados indicam que conforme fornecemos mais energia ao sistema mais partículas evaporam e constatamos que está de acordo com a literatura. Interpretamos o resultado com um modelo analítico que considera a distribuição de energia de Maxwell-Boltzmann e encontramos a temperatura do plasma com relação a temperatura inicial dos elétrons / In this work we produced an ultracold neutral plasma of 85Rb formed by the photoionization of laser-cooled atoms. We measured the number of particles evaporated from the plasma in the moment of its formation using the time-of-flight technique. After this, we studied the evaporation rate as a function of the initial electron kinetic energy, for this we created the plasma at different wavelengths of the photoinization laser. Our results indicate that as we supplied more energy to the system more particles evaporate and we verified that it is in agreement with the literature. We interpreted the result with an analytic model that considers the Maxwell-Boltzmann energy distribution and we found the plasma temperature as a function initial electron temperature

We demonstrate an optical method to detect calcium ions in an ultracold plasma. We probe the plasma with a 397 nm laser beam tuned to a calcium ion transition. The probe laser beam is focused to a 160 µm waist allowing fine spatial resolution. Ions are detected by measuring fluorescence using a Photo-Multiplier Tube (PMT). The signal, an average of 4000 acquisitions, has a temporal resolution of 120 ns. We present the details of this method, potential improvements, and prospects of imaging the expanding plasma ions. We also present preliminary work on spatially resolved absorption measurements, as well as additional studies.

Ultracold neutral plasmas are created by photoionizing laser-cooled atoms in a magneto-optical trap (MOT). Due to their large electrical potential energies and comparatively small kinetic energies, ultracold plasmas fall into a regime of plasma systems which are called “strongly coupled.” A priority in the field of ultracold plasmas is to generate plasmas with higher values of the strong coupling parameter Γ, which is given as the ratio of the nearest-neighbor Coulomb potential energy to the average kinetic energy. The equilibrium strong coupling in ultracold plasmas is limited by the ultrafast relaxation of the ions due to spatial disorder in the initial system. This heating mechanism is called “disorder-induced heating” (DIH) and it limits the ion strong coupling in ultracold plasmas to order unity. This thesis describes experiments that explore ways to generate higher values of the strong coupling parameter in an ultracold neutral calcium plasma.One way to increase Γ is to mitigate the effects of DIH using electron screening. This thesis describes an experiment in which the initial electron temperature was systematically changed to determine the effect that electron screening has on the ion thermalization. At lower initial electron temperatures, corresponding to a higher degree of electron shielding, it was found that the screening slows the ion thermalization and reduces the equilibrium ion temperature by as much as a factor of two. However, electron screening also reduces the ion interaction strength by the same amount, which has the net effect of leaving the effective Γ unchanged.Another method for increasing the strong coupling of an ultracold plasma is to excite the plasma ions to a higher ionization state. Simulations predict that doubly ionizing the plasma ions can increase the strong coupling in an ultracold plasma by as much as a factor of 4, with the maximum value of Γ depending on the timing of the second ionization relative to the DIH process. This thesis describes an experiment designed to test these predictions in a Ca2+ plasma. Measurements of the change in the Ca+ ion temperature as a function of the timing of the second ionization pulses were made using laser-induced fluorescence. Results of these measurements show that the heating of the Ca+ ions due to the second ionization depends on the timing of the second ionization pulses, as predicted by MD simulations.

Disorder-induced heating (DIH) is a nonequilibrium, ultrafast relaxation process that occurs when laser-cooled atoms are photoionized to make an ultracold plasma. Its effects dominate the ion motion during the first 100 ns of the plasma evolution. Using tools of atomic physics we study DIH with ns time resolution for different plasma densities and temperatures. By changing the frequency of the laser beam we use to probe the ions, we map out the time evolution of the velocity distribution. We can compare this to a fluorescence simulation in order to more clearly determine the relationship between the fluorescence signal and the velocity distribution. In this study we observe and characterize effects due to electron screening on the ions during the equilibration process.