Heating and cooling of electrons in an ultracold neutral plasma using Rydberg atoms

Abstract

We have experimentally demonstrated both heating and cooling of electrons in an ultracold neutral plasma (UNP) by embedding Rydberg atoms into the plasma soon after its creation. We have determined the relationship between the initial electron temperature, $T_{e,i}$, and the binding energy of the added Rydberg atoms, $E_b$, at the crossover between heating and cooling behaviors (that is, the binding energy of the atoms, which, when they are added to the plasma, neither accelerate or slow down the plasma expansion). Specifically, this condition is $|E_b| \approx 2.7 \times k_B T_{e,i}$ when the diagnostic used is the effect of the Rydberg atoms on the plasma asymptotic expansion velocity. Additionally, we have obtained experimental estimates for the amount of heating or cooling which occurs when the Rydberg binding energy does not satisfy the crossover condition. The experimental results for the crossover condition, and the degree of heating or cooling away from the crossover, are in agreement with predictions obtained from numerical modeling of the interactions between Rydberg atoms and the plasma. We have also developed a simple intuitive picture of how the Rydberg atoms affect the plasma which supports the concept of a `bottleneck' in the Rydberg state distribution of atoms in equilibrium with a co-existing plasma.