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.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:RICE/oai:scholarship.rice.edu:1911/71886 |
| Date | January 2005 |
| Creators | Laha, Sampad |
| Contributors | Killian, Thomas C. |
| Source Sets | Rice University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Text |
| Format | 60 pp, application/pdf |
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