Home | News | Physics | People | Publications
A. Povilus, E. D. Hunter, N. Evetts, S. Shanman, N. Belmore, N. Lewis, C. So, I. Martens, W. Hardy, J. Wurtele, and J. Fajans
Abstract: Generating cold (<50 K) single component electron plasmas is of critical importance to many experiments. Examples include optimizing recombination rates for antihydrogen or Rydberg atom production and producing mono-energetic beams. Replacing a section of a Penning-Malmberg trap with a high-Q cavity resonantly enhances spontaneous emission of cyclotron radiation in the cavity through interaction with electromagnetic modes. This allows for rapid cooling of a single-component electron plasma confined in the high-Q cavity. We describe the observed effects of frequency detuning (lineshape), position dependence of the confined plasma, and saturation effects on both the cooling rate and equilibrium temperature as the number of trapped electrons increases from ~5·10^3 to ~3·10^6