Quantum-optical spectroscopy for plasma electric field measurements and diagnostics

ORAL

Abstract

Measurements of plasma electric fields are essential to the advancement of plasma science and applications. Methods for non-invasive in situ measurements of plasma fields on sub-millimeter length scales with high sensitivity over a large field range remain an outstanding challenge. Here, we introduce and demonstrate a method for plasma electric field measurements and diagnostics that employs electromagnetically induced transparency as a high-resolution quantum-optical probe for the Stark energy level shifts of plasma-embedded Rydberg atoms, which serve as highly-sensitive field sensors with a large dynamic range. The method is applied in diagnostics of plasmas photo-excited out of a cesium vapor. The plasma electric fields are extracted from spatially-resolved measurements of field-induced shape changes and shifts of Rydberg resonances in rubidium tracer atoms. Measurement capabilities over a range of plasma densities and temperatures are exploited to characterize plasmas in applied magnetic fields and to image electric-field distributions in cyclotron-heated plasmas.

*This work was supported by Rydberg Technologies, the NSF (IIP-1624368 and PHY-1506093), and NIST through the Embedded Standards program.

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Authors

  • David Anderson

    • Rydberg Technologies
    • Rydberg Technologies - Ann Arbor

  • Georg Raithel

    • University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and Shanxi University, Taiyuan
    • Rydberg Technologies, University of Michigan
    • Univ of Michigan - Ann Arbor
    • University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
    • University of Michigan
    • University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

  • Matthew Simons

    • National Institute of Standards and Technology

  • Christopher Holloway

    • National Institute of Standards and Technology