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Scholarly Interest Report
         
Thomas Killian
Professor
Professor of Physics and Astronomy
 
e-mail:killian@rice.edu
 
  • Ph.D. (1999) Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • M. Phil. (1993) Cambridge University
  • A. B. (1991) Harvard College
 
Primary Department
   Department of Physics and Astronomy
Picture
 
Websites
 Ultracold Atoms and Plasmas Webpage
 
Research Areas
 Atomic Physics,Plasma Physics, and Biophysics. Strongly interacting quantum degenerate atomic gases and ultracold plasmas, and electro-magnetic characterization and control of biological structures
 

Killian Research Program

 

Thomas Killian’s research group studies ultracold neutral plasmas and quantum degenerate atomic atomic gases. Both experiments start with laser-cooled and trapped neutral strontium. Laser-cooling is a powerful technique for producing and trapping atoms at temperatures as low as one millionth of a degree above absolute zero. Under these exotic conditions, matter behaves in fundamentally different ways, and the exploration of this regime teaches us about the basic laws of nature and lays the foundation for powerful new technological advances.


Our current focus is on creating and understanding strongly interacting, many-body systems. This is a grand challenge for many areas of physics, such as in quark-gluon plasmas in high energy and nuclear physics, and a rich spectrum of phenomena in condensed matter physics including high temperature superconductivity, exotic magnetic behavior, and superfluid helium. In the quantum realm, the highly entangled wavefunctions in these systems lead to the emergence of new physics, such as superconductivity. Ultracold atoms can reach this regime when they are cooled to temperatures on the order of nanokelvin and trapped in periodic potentials called optical lattices. This is the direction we are pursuing with our quantum degenerate strontium experiments. Ultracold neutral plasmas are strongly interacting because their thermal energy is less than the Coulomb energy between neighboring particles. This reverses the normal energy hierarchy found in plasmas and makes theoretical description much more difficult.


We are also developing new research directions creating strongly interacting states of strontium Rydberg atoms and manipulating biological structures with electromagnetic fields.


Ultracold Neutral Plasmas


Over 99% of the visible matter in the universe exists as plasma, in which neutral atoms have been ionized to produce free electrons and ions. Traditionally, neutral plasmas are relatively hot, such as the solar corona (1,000,000 K), a candle flame (1000 K), or the ionosphere around our planet (300 K).  Using techniques of laser cooling, which originated in the atomic physics community, it is now possible to create ultracold neutral plasmas at temperatures as low as about 1 K. In a table-top apparatus, laser light traps and cools about 1 billion neutral atoms to a thousandth of a degree above absolute zero. A second laser illuminates the cloud with photons with barely enough energy to ionize the atoms and create the plasma.


Little is known about plasmas in this new regime, and they are difficult to describe theoretically because they are strongly interacting, which means that interactions cannot be treated as a small perturbation. We are currently measuring the collision rate in these systems, which is an unsolved problem that is important for modeling dense plasmas in thermonuclear devices and the cores of gas giant planets. We also recently developed a new technique for sculpting the density distribution of the plasma, which allows us to excite ion acoustic waves and create streaming plasmas and shock waves. This represents a new direction in the study of ultracold neutral plasmas that will allow us to probe basic plasma physics phenomena with unprecedented precision.


Quantum Degenerate Atomic Strontium 


Our work on ultracold neutral atomic strontium focuses on the study of quantum degenerate gases. When atoms are cooled down to temperatures on the order of a millionth of a degree above absolute zero, they enter a regime dominated by quantum mechanics in which we can search for new phenomena and explore novel states of matter, or study the underlying physics of magnetism and superconductivity. Ultracold atoms serve as ideal model systems because the individual particles are well characterized, and their interactions can be controlled in ways that are not possible with traditional materials. Strontium in particular, has two valence electrons, which is unlike most other elements that have been coaxed into the quantum degenerate regime, and this has been predicted to lead to new types of collective properties at ultracold temperatures. In 2009 and 2010, we created the first strontium Bose-Einstein condensates and quantum degenerate Fermi gases, and we are currently developing new ways to control the interactions between atoms using laser light and putting atoms into optical lattices to access the strongly interacting regime.


A new project, in collaboration with Prof. Barry Dunning, is using ultracold strontium atoms in highly excited Rydberg states to study many-body systems with long-range interactions. Such systems are predicted to display exotic phenomena such as supersolidity and may enable the creation of three-dimensional solitons.


Manipulating Biological Systems with Electric and Magnetic Fields


In collaboration with Robert Raphael in Bioengineering and Biotech startup n3D Biosciences, Inc. (n3dbio.com), we are developing new techniques to manipulate cells and probe cell membranes with electromagnetic fields. A recent discovery is being commercialized by n3D as a new technology for levitating cells off the flat, two-dimensional surface of a petri dish and allowing them to grow in three dimensions.  Three-dimensional structure and interactions with surrounding tissue, as experienced by cells in the body, are critical for normal cell growth and function. So this new technology has great potential for basic bio-medical research, drug discovery, and tissue engineering.


To learn more, contact Professor Killian at killian@rice.edu or stop by the lab in Brockman Hall B16.


Visitors are always welcome!


 


 

 
Teaching Areas
 Experimental Methods, Intermediate Elecrodynamics
 
Selected Publications
 Refereed articles
 

Andrew L. Cooksy, C. A. Gottlieb, T. C. Killian, P. Thaddeus; Nimesh A. Patel, Ken H. Young, and M. C. McCarthy, "Vibrationally Excited C4H." Astrophysical Journal, 216 (2015) : 30.

 
 

B. J. DeSalvo, J. A. Aman, F. B. Dunning, T. C. Killian, H. R. Sadeghpour, S. Yoshida, and J. Burgdorfer "Ultralong-Range Rydberg Molecules in a Divalent-Atomic System." Phys. Rev. A, 90 (2015) : 031403.

 
 

P. McQuillen, J. Castro, S. J. Bradshaw, and T. C. Killian "Emergence of kinetic behavior in streaming ultracold neutral plasmas." Physics of Plasmas, 22 (2015) : 043514.

 
 

P. McQuillen, T. Strickler, T. Langin, and T. C. Killian "Ion temperature evolution in an ultracold neutral plasma." Physics of Plasmas, 22 (2015) : 033513.

 
 

"A Three-Dimensional Co-culture Model of the Aortic Valve Using Magnetic Levitation," H. Tseng, L. R. Balaoing, B. Grigoryan, R. M. Raphael, T. C. Killian, G. R. Souza, and K. J. Grande-Allen, Acta Biomaterialia 10, 173 (2014).

 
 

"Mass Scaling of Photoassociation Spectra in Ultracold Strontium," M. Borkowski, P. Morzynski, R.

Ciurylo, P. S. Julienne, Mi Yan, B. J. DeSalvo, and T. C. Killian, Phys. Rev. A 90, 032713 (2014).

 
 

”A high-throughput three-dimensional cell migration assay for toxicity screening with mobile devicebased macroscopic image analysis,” David M. Timm, M. S., Jianbo Chen, B. S., David Sing, B. S., Jacob A. Gage, B. S., William L. Haisler, B. S., Shane K. Neeley, B. A., Robert M. Raphael, Ph. D., Mehdi Dehghani, Ph. D., Kevin P. Rosenblatt, M. D. Ph. D., T. C. Killian, Hubert Tseng, and Glauco R. Souza, Scientific Reports 3, 3000 (2013).

 
 

“Strongly Coupled Plasmas via Rydberg-Blockade of Cold Atoms,” G. Bannasch, T. C. Killian, and

T. Pohl, Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 253003 (2013).

 
 

“Assembly of a Three-dimensional Multi-type Bronchiole Co-culture Model Using Magnetic Levitation”H. Tseng, J. A. Gage, R. M. Raphael, R. H. Moore, T.C. Killian, K. J. Grande-Allen, and G. R. Souza,Tissue Eng. Part C: Methods 19, (2013).

 
 

``Imaging the Evolution of an Ultracold Strontium Rydberg Gas," P. McQuillen,  X. Zhang, T. Strickler, F. B. Dunning, and T. C. Killian,  Phys. Rev. A 87, 013407 (2013).

 
 

``Controlling Condensate Collapse and Expansion with an Optical Feshbach Resonance," M. Yan, B. J. DeSalvo, B. Ramachandhran, H. Pu, and T. C. Killian, Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 123201 (2013).

 
 

“Rabi Oscillations between Atomic and Molecular Condensates Driven with Coherent One-Color Photoassociation,” Mi Yan, B. J. DeSalvo, Y. Huang, P. Naidon, and T. C. Killian, Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 150402 (2013).

 
 

 

“Ion Holes in the Hydrodynamic Regime in Ultracold Neutral Plasmas,” P. McQuillen, J. Castro, T. Strickler, S. J. Bradshaw, and T. C. Killian, Phys. Plasmas 20, 043516 (2013).

 

 
 

“Production of very-high-n strontium Rydberg atoms,” S. Ye, X. Zhang, T. C. Killian, F. B. Dunning,

M. Hiller, S. Yoshida, S. Nagele, J. Burgd¨orfer, Phys. Rev. A. 88, 043430 (2013).

 
 

“Three-dimensional cell culturing by magnetic levitation,” William L. Haisler, David M. Timm, Jacob

A. Gage, Hubert Tseng, T. C. Killian, Glauco R. Souza, Nature Protocals 8, 1940 (2013).

 
 

``Velocity Relaxation in a Strongly Coupled Plasma,"  G. Bannasch, J. Castro, P. McQuillen, T. Pohl and T. C. Killian,  Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{109}, 185008 (2012).

 
 

``Creating and Studying Ion Acoustic Waves in Ultracold Neutral Plasmas,"  T. C. Killian,  P. McQuillen, T. O'Neil, and J. Castro, Phys. Plasmas \textbf{19}, 055701 (2012).

 
 Articles
 

"A Microfabricated Magnetic Force Transducer-Microaspiration
System for Studying Membrane Mechanics," D. J. Stark,  T.C. Killian, and R. M. Raphael, Phys. Biol. 8, 056008 (2011)

 
 

``Numerical Modeling of Collisional Dynamics of Sr in an Optical Dipole Trap," M. Yan, R. Chakraborty, A. Mazurenko, P. G. Mickelson, Y.N. Martinez de Escobar,   B. J. DeSalvo, and T. C. Killian, Phys. Rev. A 83, 032705 (2011).

 
 

``High-Resolution Ionization of Ultracold Neutral Plasmas,"  P. McQuillen, J. Castro,  and T. C. Killian, J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 44, 184013  (2011).

 
 

``Degenerate Fermi Gas of 87Sr,"  B. J. DeSalvo,  M. Yan, P.G. Mickelson, Y. N. Martinez de Escobar, and T.C. Killian,  Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 030402 (2010).  Editors' Suggestion.

 

 
 

``Ion Acoustic Waves in  Ultracold Neutral Plasmas,"  J. Castro, P. McQuillen, and T. C. Killian, Phys. Rev. Lett., 105, 065004 (2010).

 
 

``Bose-Einstein Condensation of 88Sr Through Sympathetic Cooling with 87Sr," P.G. Mickelson, Y.N.Martinez de Escobar, M. Yan, B. J. DeSalvo, and T.C. Killian, Phys. Rev. A 81, 051601(R)  (2010).

 

 
 

``Ultracold Neutral Plasmas,"  T.C. Killian and S. L Rolston, Phys. Today 63, 46 (2010).

 
 

 ''Repumping and spectroscopy of laser-cooled Sr atoms using the (5s5p)3P2 - (5s4d)3D2 transition," P. G. Mickelson, Y. N. Martinez de Escobar, P. Anzel, B. J. DeSalvo, S. B. Nagel, A. J. Traverso, M. Yan, T. C. Killian", J. Phys. B. 42, 235001 (2009).

 
 

''Inelastic and Elastic Collision Rates for Triplet States of Ultracold Strontium," A. Traverso, R. Chakraborty, Y. N. Martinez de Escobar, P. G. Mickelson, S. B. Nagel, M. Yan, and T. C. Killian", Phys. Rev. A 79, 060702 (2009).

 
 

" Quantitative Characterization of Microelectroporated T-cells Using Flow Cytometry," Daniel J. Stark, Nan Du, Yoonsu Choi, Sourindra Maiti, Dean A. Lee, Laurence J. N. Cooper, Robert M. Raphael, T. C. Killian, and Sibani L. Biswal, submitted J. Bioelectrochem. (2009).

 
 

''Three-dimensional Tissue Culture Based on Magnetic Cell Levitation ,"  G. R. Souza, J. R Molina, R. M. Raphael, M. G. Ozawa, D. J. Stark, C. S. Levin, L. F. Bronk, J. S. Ananta, J. Mandelin, M.-M. Georgescu, J. A. Bankson, J. G. Gelovani, T. C. Killian, R. Pasqualini, and W. Arap", Nature Nanotech. 5, 291 (2010).

 
 

''Bose-Einstein Condensation of 84Sr," Y. N. Martinez de Escobar, P. G. Mickelson, M. Yan, B. J. DeSalvo, S. B. Nagel, and T. C. Killian", Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 200402 (2009). Editors' Suggestion.

 
 

''High-efficient non-viral gene transfer by mRNA electroporation to generate CD19-specifc T cells," Yoonsu Choi, Carrie Yuen, Hillary Gibbons, Sourindra Maiti, Helen Huls, Sibani L Biswal, Robert Raphael, Thomas C Killian, Daniel J Stark, Dean A Lee, Partow Kebriaei, Richard E Champlin, and Laurence JN Cooper, Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation 15, 22 (2009).

 
 

``Using Sheet Fluorescence to Probe Ion Dynamics in Ultracold Neutral Plasmas," S. Laha, J. Castro, H. Gao, and T. C. Killian, Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 50, 124011 (2008).

 
 ``Two-Photon Photoassociative Spectroscopy of Ultracold 88Sr," Y. N. Martinez de Escobar, P. G. Mickelson, P. Pellegrini, S. B. Nagel, A. Traverso, M. Yan, R. Cote, and T. C. Killian", Phys. Rev. A, 78, 062708 (2008).
 
 

M. Radmark, A. F. Abouraddy, T. C. Killian, and K. K. Berggren, "Pumped Quantum Systems: Immersion Fluids of the Future." J. Vac. Sci. and Technol. B, 23 (2006) : 2662.

 
 

P. G. Mickelson, Y. N. Martinez, A. D. Saenz, S. B. Nagel, Y. C. Chen, T. C. Killian, P. Pellegrini, and R. Cote, "Spectroscopic Determination of the s-Wave Scattring Lngths of 86Sr and 88Sr." Phys. Rev. Lett., 95 (2005) : 223002.

 
 

S. Laha, Y. C. Chen, P. Gupta, C. E. Simien, Y. N. Martinez, P. G. Mickelson, S. B. Nagel, and T. C. Killian, "Kinetic Energy Oscillations in Annular Regions of Ultracold Neutral Plasmas." European Physical Journal D, 40 (2006) : 51.

 
 

T. C. Killian, "Cool Vibes." Nature, 441 (2006) : 297.

 
 

Chen, Y., C. E. Simien, P. Gupta, S. Laha, Y. N. Martinez, P. G. Mickelson, S. B. Nagel and T. C. Killian "Electron Screening and Kinetic Energy Oscillations in a Strongly Coupled Plasma." Phys. Rev. Lett., 93 (2004) : 265003.

 
 

Killian, T. C., Y. C. Chen, P. Gupta, S. Laha, Y. N. Martinez, P. G. Mickelson, S. B. Nagel, A. D. Saenz and C. E. Simien "Absorption Imaging and Spectroscopy of Ultracold Neutral Plasmas." J. Phys. B, 38 (2005) : 351.

 
 

Killian, T. C., Y. C. Chen, P. Gupta, S. Laha, Y. N. Martinez, P. G. Mickelson, S. B. Nagel, A. D. Saenz and C. E. Simien "Ultracold Neutral Plasmas." Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion, 47 (2005) : A297.

 
 

Mickelson, P. G., Y. N. Martinez, A. D. Saenz, S. B. Nagel, Y. C. Chen, T. C. Killian, P. Pellegrini and R. Cote "Spectroscopic Determination of the s-Wave Scattering Lengths of 86Sr and 88Sr." Phys. Rev. Lett. (2005) In Press

 
 

Nagel, P. G. Mickelson, A. D. Saenz, N. Martinez, Y. C. Chen, T. C. Killian, P. Pellegrini and R. Cote "Photoassociative Spectroscopy at Long Range in Ultracold Strontium." Phys. Rev. Lett., 94 (2005) : 083004.

 
 

Simien, C. E., Y. C. Chen, P. Gupta, S. Laha, Y. N. Martinez, P. G. Mickelson, S. B. Nagel and T. C. Killian "Absorption Imaging of Ultracold Neutral Plasmas." IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, 33 (2005) : 540.

 
 

Killian, T. C. "Plasmas Put in Order." Nature, 429 (2004) : 815.

 
 

Simien, C. E., Y. C. Chen, P. Gupta, S. Laha, Y. N. Martinez, P. G. Mickelson, S. B. Nagel, and T. C. Killian "Using Absorption Imaging to Study Ion Dynamics in an Ultracold Neutral Plasma." Phys. Rev. Lett., 92 (2004) : 143001.

 
 

Killian, T. C., V. S. Ashoka, P. Gupta, S. Laha, S. B. Nagel, C. E. Simien, S. Kulin, S. L. Rolston, and S. D. Bergeson "Ultracold Neutral Plasmas: Recent Experiments and New Prospects." J. Phys. A: Math. Gen., 36 (2003) : 6077.

 
 

Nagel, S. B., C. E. Simien, S. Laha, P. Gupta, V. S. Ashoka, and T. C. Killian "Magnetic Trapping of Metastable 3P2 Atomic Strontium." Phys. Rev. A, 67 (2003) : 011401(R).

 
 

M. O. Oktel, Killian, T. C., D. Kleppner, and L. S. Levitov ""Sum Rule for the Optical Spectrum of a Trapped Gas"." Phys. Rev. A, 65 (2002) : 033617.

 
 Book chapters
 

S. Stellmer, F. Schreck, and T. C. Killian "Degenerate Quantum Gases of Strontium." Annual Review, 2 (2014)


arxiv.org/1307.0601
 
 Other
 

Bergeson, S. D. and T. C. Killian "Ultracold Plasmas and Rydberg Gases." Phys. World (2003) : 37-41.

 
 

T. C. Killian, M. J. Lim, S. Kulin, R. Dumke, S. D. Bergeson, and S. L. Rolston "Formation of Rydberg Atoms in an Expanding Ultracold Neutral Plasma." Phys. Rev. Lett., 86 (2001) : 3759.

 
 

A. Gottlieb, T. C. Killian, P. Thaddeus, P. Botschwina, J. Flugge, and M. Oswald "Structure of Propadienylidene, H2CCC." J. Chem. Phys., 98 (1993) : 4478.

 
 

C. L. Cesar, D. G. Fried, T. C. Killian, A. D. Polycn, J. C. Sandberg, J. M. Doyle, I. A. Yu, T. J. Greytak, and D. Kleppner "Two Photon Spectroscopy of Trapped Atomic Hydrogen." Proceedings of the Fifth Symposium on Frequency Standards and Metrology (1995) : p. 365.

 
 

C. L. Cesar, D. G. Gried, T. C. Killian, A. D. Polcyn, J. C. Sandberg, I. A. Yu, T. J. Greytak, D. Kleppner, and J. M. Doyle "Two-Photo Spectroscopy of Trapped Atomic Hydrogen." Phys. Rev. Lett., 77 (1996) : 255.

 
 

D. G. Fried, T. C. Killian, L. Willmann, D. Landhuis, S. C. Moss, T. J. Greytak, and D. Kleppner "Bose-Einstein Condensation of Atomic Hydrogen." Phys. Rev. Lett. , 81 (1998) : 3811.

 
 

J. Cernicharo, C. A. Gottlieb, M. Guelin, T. C. Killian, P. Thaddeus, and J. M. Vrtilek "Astronomical Detection of H2CCCC." Astrophys. J. (Letters), 368 (1991) : L43.

 
 

J. Cernicharo, C. A. Gottlieb, M. Guelin, T. C. Killian, P. Thaddeus, and J. M. Vrtilek "Astronomical Detection of H2CCCC." Astrophys. J. (Letters), 368 (1991) : L43.

 
 

J. M. Vrtilek, C. A. Gottlieb, E. W. Gottlieb, T. C. Killian, and P. Thaddeus "Laboratory Detection of Propadienylidene, H2CCC." Astrophys. J. (Letters), 364 (1990) : L53.

 
 

P. B. Davies, G. M. Hansford, and T. C. Killian "Diode Laser Jet Spectroscopy of Hexafluorobenzene in the 10-um Region." J. Mol. Spectrosc., 163 (1994) : 138.

 
 

S. Kulin, T. C. Killian, S. D. Bergeson, and S. L. Rolston "Plasma Oscillations and Expansion of an Ultracold Neutral Plasma." Phys. Rev. Lett., 85 (2000) : 318.

 
 

T. J. Greytak, D. Kleppner, D. G. Fried, T. C. Killian, L. Willmann, D. Landis, and S. C. Moss "Bose-Einstein Condensation in Atomic Hydrogen." Physica B 280, 20 (2000)

 
 

T. C. Killian "1S-2S Spectrum of a Hydrogen Bose-Einstein Condensate." Phys. Rev. A, 61 (2000)

 
 

T. C. Killian, D. G. Fried, C. L. Cesar, A. D. Polcyn, T. J. Greytak, and D. Kleppner "Doppler-Free Spectroscopy of Trapped Atomic Hydrogen." Atomic Physics 15; Fifteenth International Conference on Atomic Physics, Zeeman-Effect Centenary (1997) : p. 158.

 
 

T. C. Killian, D. G. Fried, L. Willmann, D. Landhuis, S. C. Moss, T. J. Greytak, and D. Kleppner "Cold Collision Frequency Shift of the 1S-2S Transition in Hydrogen." Phys. Rev. Lett. , 81 (1998) : 3807.

 
 

T. C. Killian, J. M. Vrtilek, C. A. Gottlieb, E. W. Gottlieb, and P. Thaddeus "Laboratory Detection of a Second Carbon Chain Carbene: Butatrienylidene, H2CCCC." Astrophys. J. (Letters), 365 (1990) : L89.

 
 

T. C. Killian, S. Kulin, S. D. Bergeson, L. A. Orozco, S. L. Rolston "Creation of an Ultracold Neutral Plasma." Phys. Rev. Lett., 83 (1999) : 4776.

 
Presentations
 Invited Talks
 

"

"Effects of Coherent and Incoherent Interactions in Rydberg Autler-Townes Spectra," International

Conference on Rydbergs at Durham, Durham, England (7/15).

." (7/15)

 
 

"

"\Ultralong-range Molecules and EIT in Strontium Rydberg Gases," COHERENCE Workshop, Ham-

burg, Germany (2/15).

." (2/15)

 
 

"Cold Rydberg Gas and Plasma Experiments with Atomic Strontium," Second InternationalWorkshop

on Ultracold Rydberg Physics, Recife, Brazil

 
 

"Collision Rates, Diffusion, and Non-Markovian Dynamics in Strongly Coupled Ultracold Neutral

Plasmas," 11th International Workshop on Non-Neutral Plasmas, Takamatsu, Japan

 
 

"

"Strontium Ultracold Rydberg Gases," Workshop on Ultracold Rydberg Physics, COHERENCE EU

Training Network, Granada, Spain

." (9/14)

 
 

"

“Optical Feshbach Resonances and Coherent Photoassociation in a BEC,” 2013 Frontiers in Optics/ Laser Science XXIX Meeting, Orlando, FL (10/13).

."

 
 

"

“Studying ion equilibration in ultracold neutral plasmas with spatially resolved LIF spectroscopy,”

16th International Symposium on Laser Aided Plasma diagnostics, Madison, WI (9/13).

."

 
 

 ``Beyond Landau-Spitzer: Collisions in Strongly Coupled Ultracold Plasmas,'' 14th International Conference on the Physics of Nonideal Plasmas, Rostock, Germany, (9/12).

 
 

``Collective Modes and Correlations in Ultracold Neutral Plasmas," Department of Physics Colloquium, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV (11/12).

 
 

``Controlling Condensate Collapse and Expansion in 88-Sr with an Optical Feshbach Resonance," 5th International Workshop on Ultracold Group II atom, Tokyo, (10/12)

 
 

``Ultracold Neutral Plasma Density Waves,'' 2012 Annual Meeting of the Division of Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics of the American Physical Society, Anaheim, Ca, (6/12).

 
 

 ``Degenerate Fermi gas of Strontium-87,'' 2011 March Meeting
of the American Physical Society, Dallas, Texas, (3/11).

 
 

``Ion Acoustic Waves in Ultracold Neutral Plasmas,'' 2011 Annual Meeting of the Division of Plasma Physics of the American Physical Society, Salt Lake City, Utah, (11/11).

 
 

 ``Ion Waves, Streams, and Collisions in Ultracold Neutral Plasmas,'' 2011 International Topical Conference on Plasma Science: Strongly Coupled Ultra-cold and Quantum Plasmas, Lisbon, Portugal, (9/11).

 
 

``Degenerate Fermi gas of Strontium-87,'' 2011 March Meeting of the American Physical Society, Dallas, Texas, (3/11).

 
 

 ``Quantum Degenerate Gases of Atomic Strontium,'' 2010 Annual Meeting of the Division of Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics of the American Physical Society, Houston, Texas, (5/10).

 
 

``Quantum Degenerate Gases of Atomic Strontium,'' Physics Department Colloquium, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, (11/10).

 

 
 

"An Optical Feshbach Resonance in Atomic Strontium." Harvard-MIT Center for Ultracold Atoms Seminar, (4/09)

 
 

"An Optical Feshbach Resonance in Ultracold Atomic Strontium." Workshop on Ultracold Group II Atoms, (9/09)

 
 

"Role of Collisions and Strong Coupling in Ultracold Plasmas." 26th International Conference on Photonic, Electronic, and Atomic Collisions, (7/09)

 
 

"Studying Equilibration in Strongly Coupled Systems with Ultracold Plasmas." Columbia University, (4/09)

 
 

"Velocity-Changing Collisions in Strongly Coupled Plasmas." Cold and Ultracold Plasma and Rydberg Physics II workshop, Institute for Theoretical Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics. (9/09)

 
 

"Equilibration of Ultracold Neutral Plasmas." The 15th International Conference on Atomic Processes in Plasmas, , National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD. (5/07)

 
 

"Ultracold Collisions in Atomic Strontium." Frontier in Optics 2007 / Laser Science XXIII, San Jose, CA. (9/07)

 
 

"Watching Ions Dance Near Absolute Zero." University of Houston Physics Department Colloquium, Houston, TX. (11/07)

 
 

"Watching Ions Dance Near Absolute Zero." University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne Physics Department Colloquium, Urbana, IL. (11/07)

 
 

"Early Dynamics of Ultracold Neutral Plasmas." Ultracold PARYS (Ultracold Plasmas and Rydberg Systems), Centre National de la Recheerche Scientifique, Gif-sur-Yvette, France. (3/14/05)

 
 

"Expansion Dynamics of Ultracold Neutral Plasmas." ITAMP Workshop on Cold and Ultracold Plasma and Rydberg Physics, Cambridge, MA. (9/26/05)

 
 

"Ultracold Neutral Plasmas." University of Utah Physics Department Colloquium, Salt Lake City, Utah. (2/24/05)

 
 

"Ultracold Neutral Plasmas." University of Toronto Physics Department, Toronto, Canada. (1/16/05)

 
 

"Ultracold Neutral Plasmas." Texas Section of the American Physical Society, Houston, TX. (10/22/05)

 
 

"Imaging Ultracold Plasmas." 129th National Meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers, Sacramento, CA. (August 4, 2004)

 
 

"Imaging an Ultracold Neutral Plasma." 2004 Annual Meeting of the Division of Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics of the American Physical Society, Tucson, AZ. (May 28, 2004)

 
 

"Imaging an Unltracold Neutral Plasma." Harvard/MIT Center for Ultracold Atoms, Cambridge, MA. (April 22, 2004)

 
 

"Optically Imaging an Ultracold Strontium Plasma." 19th International Conference on Atomic Physics, Rio de Janero, Brazil. (July 29, 2004)

 
 

"Ultracold Neutral Plasmas." 12th International Congress on Plasma Physics, Nice, France. (October 29, 2004)

 
 

"Ultracold Neutral Plasmas." University of Connecticut Physics Department Colloquium, Storrs, CT. (11/19/04)

 
 

"Collisions in Ultracold Neutral Plasmas." XXIII International Conference on Photonic, Electronic, and Atomic Collisions, Stockholm, Sweden. (July 22, 2003)

 
 

"Experiments with Laser-Cooled Atomic Strontium." Second Workshop on Cold Alkaline-Earth Atoms, Copenhagen, Denmark. (September 12, 2003)

 
 

"Experiments with Laser-Cooled Atomic Strontium,." 2002 New Laser Scientist Conference, satellite conference of the 2002 APS Division of Laser Science-XVIII/Optical Society of America Meeting, Orlando, FL. (September 28, 2002)

 
 

"Ultracold Neutral Plasmas,." 2002 Topical Conference on Atomic Processes in Plasmas, Gatlinburg, TN. (April 23, 2002)

 
 

"Ultracold Neutral Plasmas: New Prospects with Laser-Cooled Strontium,." Resonances and Reflections: Profiles of Ugo Fano's Physics and Its Influences (Fano Memorial Symposium), Cambridge, MA. (July 26, 2002)

 
 

"Ultracold Neutral Plasmas: New Prospects with Laser-Cooled Strontium,." 2002 International Conference on Strongly Coupled Coulomb Systems, Sante Fe, NM. (September 4, 2002)

 
 

"Ultracold Neutral Plasmas." 2001 Workshop on Non-Neutral Plasmas, San Diego, California. (September 1, 2001)

 
 

"From Laser-Cooled Atoms to an Ultracold Neutral Plasma." Optical Society of America Annual Meeting and Exhibit 2000, ILS-XVI: 16th Interdisciplinary Laser Science Conference, Providence, Rhode Island. (October 24, 2000)

 
 

"From Laser-Cooled Atoms to an Ultracold Neutral Plasma." 2000 Annual Meeting of the Division of Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics of the American Physical Society, Storrs, Connecticut. (June 15, 2000)

 
 

"Bose-Einstein Condensation of Atomic Hydrogen: High Resolution Spectroscopy and the Cold Collision Frequency Shift of the 1s-2s Transition." Cold Atomic Collisions, Formation of Cold Molecules Workshop, Les Houches, France. (March 1, 1999)

 
 

"Bose-Einstein Condensation of Atomic Hydrogen." EURESCO Conference in Quantum Optics, Castelvecchio Pascoli, Italy. (October 4, 1998)

 
 Keynote Speaker
 

"Equilibration and Correlations in Ultracold Neutral Plasmas." 9th International Workshop on Non-Neutral Plasmas, New York, New York. (June 2008)

 
 

"Ultracold Neutral Plasmas." 2008 International Conference on Strongly Coupled Coulomb Systems, Camerino, Italy. (7/08)

 
 

"Ultracold Neutral Plasmas." 35th European Physical Society Conference on Plasma Physics, Crete. (June, 2008)

 
 Lectures
 

"Ultracold Neutral Plasmas." International Workshop and Seminar on Rydberg Physics, Dresden, Germany. (April 2004)

 
 Other
 

"A Tale of Two Valence Electrons," Department of Physics and Astronomy Colloquium, Pennsylvania

State University, State College, PA

 
 

Collective Modes and Correlations in Strongly Coupled Ultracold Plasmas," Department of Physics

Colloquium, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA

 
 

"Collective Modes and Correlations in Strongly Coupled Ultracold Plasmas," Department of Physics

Colloquium, Texas Southern University, Houston, TX

 
 

"Expansion Dynamics of Ultracold Neutral Plasmas,." Annual Meeting of the Division of Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics of the American Physical Society, Knoxville, TN. (May 2006)

 
 

"Ion Dynamics in Ultracold Neutral Plasmas,." Workshop on Non-Neutral Plasms, Aarhus, Denmark. (June 2006)

 
 

"Photoassociative Spectroscopy of Ultracold Strontium,." ITAMP Workshop on Ultracold Group II Atoms: Theory and Applications, Institute for Theoretical Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, Cambridge, MA. (September 2006)

 
 

"Photoassociative Spectroscopy of Ultracold Strontium,." Achievements and Perspectives of Cold Molecules, Ecole de Physique, Les Houches, France. (March 2006)

 
 

"Pushing the Envelope of Plasma Physics: Ultracold Neutral Plasmas,." The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Sciences of Texas, Houston, TX. (January 2006)

 
 Seminar Speaker
 

"

"Collective Modes and Correlations in Strongly Coupled Ultracold Plasmas," Department of Physics

and Astronomy Colloquium, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN (4/15).

." (4/15)

 
 

"

"Optical Feshbach Resonances and Coherent Photoassociation in a Strontium ," Atomic Physics Sem-

inar, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN (4/15).

." (4/15)

 
 

"

"Studying Strongly Coupled Systems with Ultracold Plasmas," Department of Physics and Astronomy

Colloquium, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL (11/15).

." (11/15)

 
 

"

"Ultralong-range Molecules and Autler-Townes Spectroscopy in Strontium Ultracold Rydberg Gases," Harvard University and the Institute of Theoretical Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics, Cambridge, MA (10/15).

." (10/15)

 
 

"Collective Modes and Collisions in Strongly Coupled Ultracold Plasmas," Department of Physics

Seminar Colloquium, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

 
 

"Collective Modes and Collisions in Strongly Coupled Ultracold Plasmas," Department of Physics

Seminar, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan

 
 

"Collective Modes and Collisions in Strongly Coupled Ultracold Plasmas," Institute of Quantum Elec-

tronics Seminar, Peking University, Beijing, China

 
 

"

“Optical Feshbach Resonances and Coherent Photoassociation in a BEC,” Department of Physics AMO Seminar, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (9/13).

."

 
 

"

Optical Feshbach Resonances and Coherent Photoassociation in a BEC,” Department of Physics

AMO/JQI Seminar, University of Maryland and Joint Quantum Institute, College Park, MD (8/13).

."

 
 

"Ultracold Strontium: Studies of Collisional Properties and Optical Feshbach Resonances." University of New Mexico, (9/08)

 
 

"Watching Ions Dance Near Absolute Zero." York University, Toronto, Canada. (11/08)

 
 

"Watching Ions Dance Near Absolute Zero." University of Texas at Austin, Center for Complex Quantum Systems Seminar, Austin, TX. (January 2008)

 
 

"Watching Ions Dance Near Absolute Zero." University of Waterloo, Toronto, Canada.

 
Supervised Theses & Dissertations
 Priya Gpta, PhD Expansion and Electron Temperature Evolution in and Ultracold Neutral Plasma. (2007) (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

 Sampad Laha, PhD Ion Dynamics in Strongly Coupled Plasmas. (2007) (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

 Clayton Simien, PhD Early Time Ion Dynamis and Progress Towards Laser Cooling in an Ultracold Neutral Plasma. (2007) (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

 Sarah Nagel, PhD Ultracold Collisions in Atomic Strontium. (2007) (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

 Pascal Mickelson, PhD Trapping and Evaporation of 87Sr and 88Sr Mixtures -PhD. (2010) (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

 Y Natali Martinez de Escobar, PhD Bose-Einstein Condensation of 84Sr - PhD. (2010) (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

 James Aman, BS "Three Dimensional Tissue Culturing Based On Magnetic Cell Levitation"-BS. (2011) (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

 Daniel Stark, PhD "Measuring Dynamic Membrane Mechanical Properties Using a Combined Microfabricated Magnetic Force Transducer-Microaspiration System" - PhD. (2011) (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

 Jose Castro, PhD "Collective effects in Ultracold Neutral Plasmas." - PhD. (2011) (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

 Michael Peron, BS "Development and Use of a Saturated Absorption Spectroscopy Cell for Tuning the Frequency of the Atom-Cooling Laser"-BS. (2012) (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

 Wenmiao Liao, BS "An Extended Caviity Diode Laser in Red Wavelengths"-BS. (2013) (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

 Charles Zha, BS "Characterizing a Fabry-Perot Transfer Cavity"-BS. (2013) (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

 Mi Yan, PhD "Optical Feshbach Resonances and Coherent Photoassociation in a Strontium BEC" -PhD. (2013) (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

 Pakorn Wongwaitayakornkul , BS "A Tellurium Frequency Reference For Re-pumping During Laser-cooling of Strontium"-BS. (2014) (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

 Ying Huang, MS "A New Optical Trap System for Ultracold Strontium"-MS. (2103) (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

 Jose Castro, MS Sheet Fluorescence and Annular Analysis of Ultracold Neutral Plasmas - MS. (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

 Patrick McQuillen, High Resolution Sculpting and Imaging of Ultracold Neutral Plasmas - MS. (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

 Daniel Stark, MS The Use of a Microelectroporator to Study Poration of Jurkat Cells - MS. (Co-Director)

 Brian DeSalvo, Degenerate Fermi Gas of 87-Sr - MS. (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

Awards, Prizes, & Fellowships
 Fellow of the American Physical Society, American Physical Society (2011)

 Junior Faculty Development Program Award Winner, Department of Energy (2002)

 Research Innovation Award Winner, Research Corporation (2002)

 Science and Engineering Fellow, David and Lucille Packard Foundation (2002)

 Research Fellow, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (2002)

 Young Investigator, Office of Naval Research (2002)

 Referee for various National Science Foundation grant proposals,

 Member, Atom Cooling and Atom Optics Subcommittee for the 2002 Quantum Opticsand Laser Science Conference

 Member of the review panel, 1999 National Science Foundation Pan-American Conference Program

 Publication referee, Physical Review A and Physical Review Letters