title: Dissociation and the development of spatial correlation in a molecular ultracold plasma.
abstract: Penning ionization initiates the evolution of a dense molecular Rydberg gas to plasma. This process selects for pairs of excited molecules separated by a distance of two Rydberg orbital diameters or less. The deactivated Penning partners predissociate, depleting the leading edge of the distribution of nearest-neighbor distances. For certain density and orbital radii, this sequence of events can form a plasma in which large distances separate a disproportionate fraction of the ions. Experimental results and model calculations suggest that the reduced potential energy of this Penning lattice significantly affects the development of strong coupling in an ultracold plasma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6 T 1Z3, Canada.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sadeghi
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6 T 1Z3, Canada.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kruyen
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6 T 1Z3, Canada.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6 T 1Z3, Canada.
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Gurian
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6 T 1Z3, Canada.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Morrison
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6 T 1Z3, Canada.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schulz-Weiling
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6 T 1Z3, Canada.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Saquet
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6 T 1Z3, Canada.
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Rennick
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6 T 1Z3, Canada.
authors.forename: E R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Grant