Holloway, C.
and Simons, M.
(2017),
Quantum-optical spectroscopy for plasma electric field measurements and diagnostics, Physics Arxiv
(Accessed November 12, 2025)
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Quantum-optical spectroscopy for plasma electric field measurements and diagnostics
Published
Author(s)
,
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 micrometre length scales with high sensitivity over a large field range remain an outstanding challenge. Here, we demonstrate a new spectroscopic approach for plasma electric field measurements that employs electromagnetically induced transparency as a high-resolution quantum-optical probe of plasma-embedded Rydberg atoms that 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.Citation
Physics Arxiv
Pub Type
Journals
Keywords
plasma fields measurement, atom-based measurements
Citation
Issues
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Created December 23, 2017, Updated March 6, 2019