We are making ultra-cold plasma by photo-ionizing laser-cooled calcium atoms in a Magneto-Optical Trap (MOT). The trap size is about 1 mm and it holds about 10 million calcium atoms at a temperature of 0.001 K above absolute zero. The ultracold plasma is formed when we shine in two laser pulses that ionize all of the atoms.

The plasma is "strongly coupled", meaning that the average "nearest-neighbor" Coulomb energy is orders of magnitude larger than the mean thermal energy of particles in the plasma. A strongly coupled plasma behaves in some ways more like a solid than a gas. One of our major research goals is to understand how strong coupling changes basic processes like recombination and collisional ionization.

We use calcium to create this plasma because the energy level scheme in Ca is favorable for laser cooling and trapping. The blue wavelengths for both Ca and Ca+ are easily generated with standard laser technology. So when plasma is created we can measure the ion temperature and plasma density in a straightforward manner.

Our newest two projects include 

• generating a plasma with both Ca and Yb ions at the same time. 
• characterizing kinetic plasma behavior in plasma mixtures with complex interfaces.
• trapping neutral plasmas in a way that has never been done before.

A small dielectric barrier discharge generates a mm-size plasma streamer — a plasma bullet that travels about 1 cm. We're using a highly sensitive optical phase tool to measure the size and shape of the plasma's electron density distribution.

We are collaborating with Sandia National Lab to build a buffer-gas-cooled trapped ion clock using Ba-137 ions.

When high-intensity lasers interact with materials, they rip electrons from atoms and pull them around at nearly the speed of light.  We model electron behavior under these extreme conditions using a variety of techniques.

We study the radiation emitted by electrons when they are accelerated by the very large electric fields in an ulta-high-intensity laser focus. This radition, known as nonlinear Thomson scattering, allows us to probe the structure of the laser focus. 

Small opaque particles can be trapped in a laser focus that has interference structures. While this effect has been observed for decades, the physical explanation for why it works is still not well understood. We study particle trapping using experiments, computation, and theory.

We are building a trapped-ion quantum computing lab with an initial focus on high fidelity bosonic quantum states for quantum computing, error correction, and sensing. Research will include designing, building, testing, and deploying hardware, electronics, and software. Projects range from working with optical systems, vacuum systems, and fast electronic control systems to simulating open quantum system dynamics and full stack quantum computing software development.

When high-intensity lasers interact with materials, they rip electrons from atoms and pull them around at nearly the speed of light.  We model electron behavior under these extreme conditions using a variety of techniques.

We study the radiation emitted by electrons when they are accelerated by the very large electric fields in an ulta-high-intensity laser focus. This radition, known as nonlinear Thomson scattering, allows us to probe the structure of the laser focus. 

Small opaque particles can be trapped in a laser focus that has interference structures. While this effect has been observed for decades, the physical explanation for why it works is still not well understood. We study particle trapping using experiments, computation, and theory.

We study light at the level where energy is detected as individual photons. Often this is looking at nonlinear Thomson scattering. We also have projects looking at correlated photons produced from downconversion which can be used to measure quantum coherence effects.