Heating mechanisms in radio-frequency-driven ultracold plasmas

P.W. Smorenburg, L.P.J. Kamp, O.J. Luiten

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)
160 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Several mechanisms by which an external electromagnetic field influences the temperature of a plasma are studied analytically and specialized to the system of an ultracold plasma (UCP) driven by a uniform radio-frequency (rf) field. Heating through collisional absorption is reviewed and applied to UCPs. Furthermore, it is shown that the rf field modifies the three-body recombination process by ionizing electrons from intermediate high-lying Rydberg states and upshifting the continuum threshold, resulting in a suppression of three-body recombination. Heating through collisionless absorption associated with the finite plasma size is calculated in detail, revealing a temperature threshold below which collisionless absorption is ineffective.
Original languageEnglish
Article number063413
Pages (from-to)1-12
Number of pages12
JournalPhysical Review A: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics
Volume85
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2012

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