Recombination Fluorescence in Ultracold Neutral Plasmas
Abstract
We present the first measurements and simulations of recombination fluorescence from ultracold neutral calcium plasmas. This method probes three-body recombination at times less than 1μs, shorter than previously published time scales. For the lowest initial electron temperatures, the recombination rate scales with the density as n02.2, significantly slower than the predicted n03. Recombination fluorescence opens a new diagnostic window in ultracold plasmas. In most cases it probes deeply bound level populations that depend critically on electron energetics. However, a perturbation in the calcium 4snd Rydberg series allows our fluorescence measurements to probe the population in weakly bound levels that result just after recombination.
- Publication:
-
Physical Review Letters
- Pub Date:
- August 2008
- DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.073202
- arXiv:
- arXiv:0708.2922
- Bibcode:
- 2008PhRvL.101g3202B
- Keywords:
-
- 34.80.Lx;
- 52.27.Cm;
- 52.27.Gr;
- Electron-ion recombination and electron attachment;
- Multicomponent and negative-ion plasmas;
- Strongly-coupled plasmas;
- Physics - Atomic Physics;
- Physics - Plasma Physics
- E-Print:
- doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.073202