Progress Towards a 3D Ion Microscope for Rydberg Facilitation and Strongly Coupled Plasmas

We present progress on developing a three-dimensional ion microscope for studying Rydberg facilitation dynamics and strongly coupled plasmas with high spatial and temporal resolution. The system integrates a microchannel plate (MCP) detector with a delay-line readout to enable time-resolved ion imaging of Rydberg atoms and micro-plasmas photoexcited from laser-cooled Rubidium atoms. We will report on the implementation of the delay-line detector and the characterization of key imaging parameters, including magnification, field of view, and resolution. Additionally, we will discuss numerical simulations exploring Rydberg facilitation and the emergence of correlated excitation domains, where facilitation dynamics shape ionization pathways and spatial correlations. This work lays the foundation for future studies on collective effects in strongly interacting Rydberg atom and ion systems.