Recombination of doubly ionized atoms in the afterglow of a helium plasma produced by laser

Experimental investigation of the collisional-radiative decay coefficient of doubly ionized helium atoms in a helium plasma produced by laser is reported. Comparison of our experimental values with the theoretical values determined by Drawin-Emard is made. A reasonable agreement is obtained if we take into account the optical thickness of the plasma.     

Equation of state of metallic helium

The effective ion-ion interaction, free energy, pressure, and electric resistance of metallic liquid helium have been calculated in wide density and temperature ranges using perturbation theory in the electron-ion interaction potential. In the case of conduction electrons, the exchange interaction has been taken into account in the random-phase approximation and correlations have been taken into account in the local-field approximation. The solid-sphere model has been used for the nuclear subsystem. The diameter of these spheres is the only parameter of this theory. The diameter and density of the system at which the transition of helium from the singly ionized to doubly ionized state occurs have been estimated by analyzing the pair effective interaction between helium atoms. The case of doubly ionized helium atoms has been considered. Terms up to the third order of perturbation theory have been taken into account in the numerical calculations. The contribution of the third-order term is significant in all cases. The electric resistance and its temperature dependence for metallic helium are characteristic of simple divalent metals in the liquid state. The thermodynamic parameters—temperature and pressure densities-are within the ranges characteristic of the central regions of giant planets. This makes it possible to assume the existence of helium in the metallic state within the solar system.     

Electrical conductivity and thermopower of metallic helium

The pair effective interionic interaction, electrical resistance, and thermopower of liquid metallic helium have been calculated over wide temperature and density ranges using the perturbation theory for the potential of electron-ion interaction. For conduction electrons, the random-phase approximation has been used taking into account the exchange interaction and correlations in the local-field approximation. The nuclear subsystem has been described by the hard-sphere model. The sphere diameter is the only parameter of the theory. The diameter and the system density at which helium is transformed from the singly ionized to doubly ionized state have been estimated based on an analysis of the pair effective interaction between helium nuclei. The case of doubly ionized helium atoms has been considered. The numerical calculations have been performed taking into account the perturbation theory in terms up to the third order. In all cases, the role of the third-order correction is significant. In the case of metallic helium, the values of the electrical resistance and its temperature dependence are characteristic of divalent simple liquid metals, as well as the dependences of the thermopower on the density and temperature.     

Stark broadening in the Sb III spectrum

The shapes of nine doubly ionized antimony (Sb III) spectral lines have been obtained in the laboratory helium plasma at 17 500 K electron temperature and electron density of . Measured line profiles are of a Voigt type. At the mentioned plasma conditions the Stark broadening has been found as the dominant mechanism in the Sb III line shapes formation. Using a deconvolution procedure the Lorentz (Stark) FWHM (Full-Width at Half of the Maximal intensity, W) have been obtained. Our measured Sb III Stark widths are the first data in the literature. The modified version of the linear, low-pressure, pulsed arc was used as a plasma source operated in helium with antimony atoms, as impurities. They were evaporated from the thin antimony layer, deposited on the silver cylindrical plates, located in the homogenous part of the discharge. This plasma source ensures good conditions for the generation of the doubly ionized antimony atoms in the helium plasma due to atomic processes concerning helium metastables.     

Influence of atom-atom collisions on the collisional-radiative ionization and recombination coefficients of helium plasmas

Coefficients for volume recombination and ionization have been calculated for a dense helium plasma of low degree of ionization. The calculations are based on a collisional-radiative model in which electron-atom, electron-electron-ion, atom-atom, and electron-atom-ion collisions intervene. Molecular species such as He ₂ ^* and He ₂ ⁺ have not been taken into account. The essential results are: At low temperatures and high neutral gas densities the recombination coefficient is proportional to the number density of neutral helium atoms. At high temperatures the presence of neutral particles practically does not influence the recombination process compared to pure ion-electron-electron recombination. At high neutral particle densities, high atom temperatures and low electron densities the ionization process is mainly due to atom-atom collisions. In this point our calculations are in relatively good agreement with recent shock tube measurements of Kalra and Measures (Phys. Fluids14, 2544 (1971)). It is emphasized that the simple two-step model for ionization by shock waves in the noble gases should be replaced by a more general collisional-radiative model in which the atomic level structure intervenes in more detail.     

Time-dependent close-coupling calculations of dielectronic capture in He

We report on the first time-dependent close-coupling calculation of dielectronic capture into a doubly excited state of a two-electron atom. An incoming electron is represented by a Gaussian wave packet which collides with singly ionized helium in its ground state. The close-coupling equations describe the propagation of the total compound wave function on a two-dimensional radial lattice. By projecting this wave function onto a doubly excited state of neutral helium, we can determine the probability amplitude for dielectronic capture into one of these states and the subsequent autoionization from it.     

A new channel of the concentration decay of doubly charged helium ions in a plasma

A model describing the decay of concentrations of excited helium atoms and ions taking into account doubly ionized helium is constructed on the basis of experimental data on excitation of a helium plasma by a pulsed electron beam. From this model, the rate constant of reaction He⁺⁺+He_m→He⁺+He ₀ ⁺ is estimated. It is found to agree in order of magnitude with theoretical estimates made in the framework of a model of polarization capture.     

Second born results of some charge exchange scatterings

Second Born results for charge exchange scattering cross sections of proton in hydrogen and singly ionized helium atoms — alpha particles in hydrogen and singly ionized helium atoms have been obtained for low to very high energies. The results show some interesting points of physical importance.     

Excitation of helium atoms in collisions with plasma electrons in an electric field

The rate constants are evaluated for excitation of helium atoms in metastable states by electron impact if ionized helium is located in an external electric field and is supported by it, such that a typical electron energy is small compared to the atomic excitation energy. Under these conditions, atomic excitation is determined both by the electron traveling in the space of electron energies toward the excitation threshold and by the subsequent atomic excitation, which is a self-consistent process because it leads to a sharp decrease in the energy distribution function of electrons, which in turn determines the excitation rate. The excitation rate constant is calculated for the regimes of low and high electron densities, and in the last case, it is small compared to the equilibrium rate constant where the Maxwell distribution function is realized including its tail. Quenching of metastable atomic states by electron impact results in excitation of higher excited states, rather than transition to the ground electron state for the electric field strengths under consideration. Therefore, at restricted electron number densities, the rate of emission of resonant photons of the wavelength 58 nm, which results from the transition from the 2¹ P state of the helium atom to the ground state, is close to the excitation rate of metastable atomic states. The efficiency of atomic excitation in ionized helium, i.e., the part of energy of an electric field injected in ionized helium that is spent on atomic excitation, is evaluated. The results exhibit the importance of electron kinetics for an ionized gas located in an electric field.     

Measured Cd III Stark widths

The Stark FWHM (Full-Width at Half of the Maximal line intensity, W) have been measured for 16 doubly ionized cadmium (Cd III) spectral lines in a pulsed helium discharge in the wavelength interval between 200 nm and 304 nm. The helium discharge was created in the linear low pressure pulsed arc operated at 19 000 K electron temperature and 5.0×¹⁰²² m−3 electron density. The cadmium atoms were sputtered from the cadmium (99.9% purity) cylindrical plates located in the linear part of the discharge tube. The high density of the Cd III ions is boosted by cascade ionization processes via the well populated Cd II energy levels due to the Penning and charge exchange effects. The shapes of the Cd III lines are recorded using a spectrograph (McPherson model 209, 1.33 m focal-length with 2400 grooves/mm holographic grating) and intensified CCD camera (Andor DH740-18F-03) as a high-sensitive detection system. The Stark parameters introduced in this Letter are the first published experimental Cd III Stark widths.     

Collisional-radiative volume recombination and ionization coefficients for quasi-stationary helium plasmas

Collisional-radiative recombination and ionization coefficients, α andS, have been calculated on the basis of a non-hydrogen-like collisional-radiative model for atomic helium. The singlet and triplet systems have been considered as two individual systems coupled to each other through a set of elementary processes for collisions and radiation. Auto-ionization states have not been taken into account. Therefore the computations of the coefficient α have been limited to the range 125≦T _e [°K]≦64000. (AboveT _e=64 000 °K the auto-ionizing states considerably influence the recombination rates (di-electronic recombination).) The results show that the α- andS-coefficients for helium are more sensitive to radiative trapping than those for hydrogen under comparable absorption conditions. Concerning the α-values: For low electron densities one obtains approximately α_helium≈2α_hydrogen, whereas at high electron densities one finds approximately α_helium≈1/2α_hydrogen (to 1/10 α_hydrogen at high electron temperatures). Collisional-radiative ionization coefficients for atomic helium have not yet been published in the past. In the present paper one finds for the first time a complete set ofS-coefficients for different degrees of radiative trapping.     

Stark widths of doubly- and triply-ionized atom lines

In this paper, we report modifications of well known semiempirical and semiclassical approximation furmulas for Stark line-width calculations. Comparisons with experiments for doubly ionized atoms yield, as an average ratio of measured to calculated widths 1.06 ± 0.31 for a modified semiempirical formula and 0.96±0.24 for a modified semiclassical formula. For triply ionized atoms these ratios are 0.91±0.42 and 1.08±0.41, respectively. Comparison with other theoretical calculations have also been made.     

Femtosecond ionization of magnesium clusters grown in ultracold helium droplets

Magnesium clusters grown in helium droplets and ionized with femtosecond laser pulses have been studied by high resolution mass spectrometry. For moderate laser intensities the abundance spectra show characteristic features indicating electronic shell effects. Compared to clusters of s¹-electron metals additional shell closures appear resulting from an electron rearrangement. Irradiation with higher laser intensities leads to a decomposition of the magnesium clusters into atomic ions. Due to charge exchange with the surrounding helium matrix mainly singly and doubly charged magnesium ions remain. In addition, the occurrence of MgHe_N ⁺-complexes is observed. Their abundance depends on the shape of the laser field, i.e. the laser width and the optical delay when applying the pump-probe technique. Received 2 January 2001     

Radiative decay of doubly excited states in helium below the He+ (N = 2) ionization threshold

The radiative decay of (1)P(o) doubly excited states in helium has been investigated using a novel apparatus in which metastable atoms and vacuum ultraviolet photons are detected. The intensity ratio of the energetically narrow (sp,2n-)(1)P(o) and (2p,nd)(1)P(o) series to the broader (sp,2n+)(1)P(o) series is strikingly enhanced in comparison with conventional photoabsorption, photoion, or photoelectron measurements using synchrotron radiation. The experimental approach is a new way forward for the study of energetically narrow doubly excited states.     

Probability of the two-electron mechanism of the formation of doubly charged barium ions as a function of laser radiation intensity

The formation of singly and doubly charged ions upon nonlinear ionization of barium atoms is studied as a function of the frequency and intensity of a 8800-8920-cm^?1 IR color center laser. Barium atoms are ionized via the four-photon resonance with the strongly perturbed bound 6p ^{2 1} D ₂ state. Doubly charged barium ions are produced by a two-electron mechanism. It is found that the probability of the formation of doubly charged ions under these conditions linearly depends on the laser radiation intensity.     

Measurement of population density of excited helium atoms by the hook method

The hook method has been applied to the positive-column discharge plasma of helium and the population density of the lowest-lying excited levels, 2^1,3S and 2^1,3P, was measured. The results are compared with data obtained by use of the line absorption method, and discrepancies between these data are discussed. The result is also compared with a calculation based on application of the collisional-radiative model.     

High-energy cutoff in the spectrum of strong-field nonsequential double ionization

Electron energy distributions of singly and doubly ionized helium in an intense 390 nm laser field have been measured at two intensities (0.8 PW/cm2 and 1.1 PW/cm2, where PW is defined as 10(15) W/cm2). Numerical solutions of the full-dimensional time-dependent helium Schr?dinger equation show excellent agreement with the experimental measurements. The high-energy portion of the two-electron energy distributions reveals an unexpected 5U(p) cutoff for the double ionization (DI) process and leads to a proposed model for DI below the quasiclassical threshold.     

Spectroscopic studies of a helium plasma generated near ceramic surface at pressures below 1000 hPa

Spatially resolved line intensity measurements from a plasma generated near ceramic surfaces have been performed. Disk-shaped helium plasmas of diameter 20 mm and thickness 0.9 mm have been studied in a pressure range of 2×10³–10⁵ Pa. On the basis of line intensity measurements and applying an appropriate collisional-radiative model for a helium plasma, the distributions of electron density and electron temperature have been evaluated.     

The collisional-radiative model and laser-induced excitation transfer in helium plasmas: Role of associative ionization

The effect of associative ionization processes on temporal enhancement and decay of fluorescence from helium levels following laser-induced selective excitation is investigated through a collisional-radiative model. In low-temperature moderate-pressure helium plasmas the associative ionization processes significantly affect the population densities; the effect is more pronounced in n = 3 than in n = 4 levels.     

对理想条件下Rn及其子体垂直运移实验数据的再分析

当1个Rn与8个以上的He原子结合成团簇后,该团簇可以克服重力向上运移;当与1个Rn结合的He原子少于8个时,该团簇将向下运移.因此向上运移的RnHe团簇的平均原子数要明显大于向下运移的RnHe团簇的平均原子数.对Rn及其子体的长距离运移实验数据进行分析表明：在不考虑扩散的情况下,平均每个Rn需要与7.5个He原子结合,则铀矿石源所能提供的He原子数量可能不够;如果考虑扩散的情况,平均每个Rn只需与4.26—5.57个He原子结合,则铀矿石源可以提供足够数量的He.这一推导结果说明,在采用团簇运移机制解释Rn及其子体垂直运移实验结果时,不能忽略扩散运移的存在. 关键词： Rn 垂直运移 RnHe团簇