Ion dynamics in strongly coupled ultracold neutral plasmas at the early stage

Abstract

We measured the velocity distribution of ions in the ultracold neutral plasma (UNP) during its early evolution by the technique of velocity map imaging. The ion temperature during the phase of ion equilibrium was obtained experimentally through this method. The Coulomb coupling parameter of ions in the UNP after disorder-induced heating was also determined to be 2.1, which agreed well with the prediction from a charged particle tracing simulation. In addition, the ion expansion during the ion equilibration phase was observed. Notably, the experimentally observed expansion speed is larger than the value obtained from the self-similar expansion model, indicating the involvement of additional mechanisms, besides the electron thermal pressure, in driving the ion expansion. We have also discussed the contributions of ion–ion correlations and charge imbalance to the plasma expansion.