Cold Collisions
Course description: Cold collisions in the laboratory, in industry and in space.
Resumé: This course will cover the physics of cold encounters between electrons, atoms and molecules, including experiments and applications of results for plasmas in industry for nanofabrication and for space plasmas. We will start with an overview of the strange quantum world of cold collisions, introducing matter wave interference, classically forbidden paths of interaction and other quantum concepts. Experimental techniques for studying cold collisions between electrons, atoms and molecules will then be described, introducing traps, cooling and cold beam techniques. Theoretical concepts will be discussed in terms of experimental data, emphasising physical understanding rather than mathematical abstraction. Applications in industrial plasma-based fabrication of microelectronic devices will be described, including the physics of radio-frequency discharges. Electron collisions in space plasmas and their importance in understanding the interstellar medium will round off the course.
The course is divided into the following 6 subtopics 1. an introduction: the strange quantum world of cold collisions
2. experimental techniques for the study of cold collisions
3. an overview of experimental data: cold atom and cold electron collisions
4. understanding experimental data in terms of quantum concepts
5. applications in understanding radio-frequency discharges: how microchips are made
6. space plasmas: using data in astronomy
Lecturer: David Field
Points/ECTS-credits: 1/5
Semester: Autumn