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.
","abstract_html":"<p>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.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Nofs, Leo Michael"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Open Access Thesis","degree_discipline":"Physics and Astronomy","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Eric Paradis, PhD","Ernest Behringer, PhD","Jonathan Skuza, PhD"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2019,"date_issued":"2019-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2019-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:17:33Z","subjects":["Plasma","Rubidium","Slowing","Zeeman","Physics"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.emich.edu/theses/978","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Eric Paradis, PhD","Ernest Behringer, PhD","Jonathan Skuza, PhD"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Nofs, Leo Michael"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2019-09-27T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Physics and Astronomy"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Plasma","Rubidium","Slowing","Zeeman","Physics"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/978"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["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.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Designing a modified Zeeman slower for the Paschen-Back magnetic regime"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Eric Paradis, PhD","Ernest Behringer, PhD","Jonathan Skuza, PhD"],"dc:creator":["Nofs, Leo Michael"],"dc:date.available":["2019-09-27T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.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.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/978"],"dc:subject":["Plasma","Rubidium","Slowing","Zeeman","Physics"],"dc:title":["Designing a modified Zeeman slower for the Paschen-Back magnetic regime"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Physics and Astronomy"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:17:33Z"}