Long Lifetime Ultracold Plasma Produced by a Nanosecond Laser in a Supersonic Nitric Oxide Molecular Beam Environment

Ultracold plasma provides a possible route to approach the strongly-coupled regime under laboratory conditions. Normally, the lifetime of ultracold plasma is very limited due to plasma heating and expansion mechanisms. We present a new method to generate long lifetime ultracold plasmas consisting mainly of cations and anions. This plasma demonstrates a capability of traversing a DC barrier of up to 5 (or −3) V. The lifetime of this plasma is expected to be more than 250 µs. Finally, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation is used to explain how anions slow the expansion rate and prolong the lifetime of this plasma.