Date Approved

2019

Degree Type

Open Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department or School

Physics and Astronomy

Committee Member

Eric Paradis, PhD

Committee Member

Ernest Behringer, PhD

Committee Member

Jonathan Skuza, PhD

Committee Member

Georg Raithel, PhD

Abstract

Controlled study of high-density plasmas, such as those found in fusion reactions and stars, is difficult due to their highly-magnetized environments. A specialized high magnetic field (High-B) trap was developed at the University of Michigan in Georg Raithel's research group to study such highly magnetized, high density plasmas using rubidium atoms. By replacing the atom source with a Zeeman slower, a well-studied device to slow and cool atoms, the atom flux could be increased by a factor more than 1000, leading to higher High-B plasma densities. The goal of this project is to design a Zeeman slower that differs from standard designs by accounting for the considerable fall-off bias field from the High-B trap. We created a Python model that computes the modified magnetic field generated by a set of solenoids with operating and design parameters which can be optimized to match the desired Zeeman field within 4 G. This Zeeman slower design allows for operation with or without the High-B bias field.

Download

Included in

Physics Commons

Share

COinS