Rapidly oscillating, inhomogeneous electromagnetic field from laser exert a force that repels charged particles from regions of high light intensity. We propose and analyze a flat-bottomed hollow-beam ponderomotive optical trap for an ultracold neutral plasma (UNP), driven by a high-power ${\mathrm{CO}}_2$ laser. Molecular dynamics simulations show that the plasma and Rydberg atoms are effectively trapped within a nearly uniform dark region bounded by repulsive light walls. In contrast to RF traps, flat-bottomed traps yield a small density-weighted mean ponderomotive energy per electron, while the UNP collision frequency is far below the laser frequency, thereby making collisional absorption negligible and does not limit the lifetime of the trap. This approach could enhance antimatter production and storage.

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• Laser-plasma interactions
• Low-temperature plasma
• Strongly-coupled plasmas
• Ab initio molecular dynamics