title: Electron screening and kinetic-energy oscillations in a strongly coupled plasma.
abstract: We study equilibration of strongly coupled ions in an ultracold neutral plasma produced by photoionizing laser-cooled and trapped atoms. By varying the electron temperature, we show that electron screening modifies the equilibrium ion temperature. Even with few electrons in a Debye sphere, the screening is well described by a model using a Yukawa ion-ion potential. We also observe damped oscillations of the ion kinetic energy that are a unique feature of equilibration of a strongly coupled plasma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA.
authors.forename: Y C
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: C E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Simien
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Laha
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: Y N
authors.initials: YN
authors.lastname: Martinez
authors.forename: P G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Mickelson
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Nagel
authors.forename: T C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Killian