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Updated: Aug 19, 2026

Non-equilibrium Microwave Plasma for Efficient High Temperature Chemistry
Published on: August 1, 2017
Electron screening and kinetic-energy oscillations in a strongly coupled plasma
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA.
Abstract:
We study equilibration of strongly coupled ions in an ultracold neutral plasma produced by photoionizing laser-cooled and trapped atoms. By varying the electron temperature, we show that electron screening modifies the equilibrium ion temperature. Even with few electrons in a Debye sphere, the screening is well described by a model using a Yukawa ion-ion potential. We also observe damped oscillations of the ion kinetic energy that are a unique feature of equilibration of a strongly coupled plasma.
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