Recombination during expansion of ultracold plasma

Signals of ultracold plasma are observed by two-photon ionization of laser-cooled caesium atoms in a magnetooptical trap. Recombination of ions and electrons into Rydberg atoms during the expansion of ultracold plasma is investigated by using state-selective field ionization spectroscopy. The dependences of recombination on initial electron temperature （1 70 K） and initial ion density （-10^10 cm-3） are investigated. The measured dependence on initial ion density is N^1.547±0.004 at a delay time of 5μs. The recombination rate rapidly declines as initial electron temperature increases when delay time is increased. The distributions of Rydberg atoms on different values of principal quantum number n, i.e. n = 30-60, at an initial electron temperature of 3.3 K are also investigated. The main experimental results are approximately explained by the three-body recombination theory.