Low-frequency strong-field ionization and excitation of hydrogen atom

The dynamics of hydrogen atom in the presence of a strong radiation field of the titanium-sapphire laser is studied for the Keldysh parameters γ ≥ 1 and γ ≤ 1. It is demonstrated that the ionization is supplemented with the effective population of the excited states with the principal quantum numbers n = 5–10 in the entire range of variation in the Keldysh parameter. The population of the excited Rydberg states can be interpreted as a consequence of the multiphoton resonance involving the initial 1s state and a group of excited states in the vicinity of the continuum boundary with the simultaneous repopulation of these states by Λ-type Raman transitions under the action of the laser field. The resulting coherent Rydberg packet appears to be stable with respect to ionization, so that the ionization of the atomic system in the presence of strong electromagnetic field is suppressed. Physical reasons for the stabilization are discussed. An interpretation of the effective population of the Rydberg states in the recent experiments on the ionization of atomic helium by the titanium-sapphire laser is proposed.     

Ultrahigh frequency additional background radiation of the lower ionosphere during strong geomagnetic disturbances

In periods of high solar activity and the formation of geomagnetic storms, additional background incoherent ultrahigh frequency (UHF) radiation with decimeter to millimeter wavelengths in the high E and D layers of the Earth’s ionosphere is generated. This emission is produced by transitions between Rydberg states of atoms and molecules of atmospheric gases, which are excited by electrons and are surrounded by a neutral species of the medium. At present, there is no reliable information on the integrated intensity of UHF radiation in this wavelength range. This problem can be solved on knowledge of the dynamics of collisional and radiative quenching of Rydberg states and of the kinetics of their population in the lower ionosphere. An analysis of the available experimental data shows that the radiation is generated in an atmospheric layer located at altitudes between 50 and 110 km. The current theory is discussed and the ways of its further improvement connected with the development of more rigorous theoretical methods for describing the effect of neutral particles of medium on the collisional and radiative quenching dynamics, including the elementary processes with participation of the nitrogen and oxygen molecules, are suggested. For quantitatively estimates the influence of excited particles on the incoherent UHF radiation of the atmosphere, it is necessary carrying out of the preliminary calculations the potential energy surfaces and dynamics of nonadiabatic transitions between Rydberg states, construction the electronic wave functions, and determination the dipole moments of the allowed transitions and the emission line shapes. Obtained results can be included into the general kinetic scheme which defines of the UHF radiation intensity versus the density and temperature of the atmosphere. Accompanying its infrared (IR) radiation can be used to define of Rydberg states.     

Zur spektroskopischen Temperatur- und Dichtemessung von Plasmen bei Abwesenheit thermodynamischen Gleichgewichtes

After a discussion of the ionization formulae for both a steady-state and a transient plasma with and without thermodynamic equilibrium it is shown that for the practical application of these formulae the introduction of a non-Maxwellian velocity distribution function for the electrons is necessary in special cases, because the electrons can escape from the plasma without effecting a sufficiently high number of ionizing impacts. The influence of both the “Maxwell”- and the “Druyvesteyn”-distribution on the excitation, ionization, and recombination processes is treated quantitatively. The modification of the ionization formula due to three-body collisional recombination into excited states is discussed. It is emphasized that the normally unknown velocity distribution of the electrons can be obtained by measuring the free-bound recombination continuae.     

Ionization of long-lived highly excited atoms by collision with molecules. II

A theoretical treatment of the collisional ionization of a highly excited atom with a molecule is improved by use of the exact form factor of the hydrogen atom in highly excited states. The present treatment is still based on the previously proposed mechanism in which the Rydberg electron is ionized by gain of energy from rotational de-excitation of the molecule in a rotationally excited state. Closer comparison of experiment with theory is made for symmetric- as well as asymmetric-top molecules.     

Opacity calculations for high-Z plasma in non-local thermodynamic equilibrium

Opacity of high-Z element plasma in non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) is calculated. In the calculation, a collisional radiative model in detailed-configuration-accounting (DCA) is applied to population calculations for NLTE plasmas. Configuration-averaged rate coefficients that needed in the rate equations are obtained based on the first order perturbation theory. The Hatree-Fock-Slater self-consistent-field method is used to calculate the electron wave functions. The spin-orbit splitting is included in the spectrum calculations. The unresolved transition array method is used in the opacity calculations. The calculated frequency-dependent opacity of high-Z plasma Lu is presented. The comparison shows that the present spectrum agrees with another theoretical result well except that the present one shifts a little to the lower energy due to its lower mean ionization stage. The effects of highly doubly excited states on ionization balance and on the opacity are investigated. The mean ionization stage increases more than three stages when doubly excited states 5l6l′ and 5l5l′ are not included in the population calculations and the absorption spectrum also shifts to the higher energy.     

Features of the Quenching of the Triplet States of Water-Soluble Porphyrins by Molecular Oxygen

Using the methods of time-resolved absorption spectroscopy, we have investigated the features of quenching, by molecular oxygen, of the excited triplet states of water-soluble 5,10,15,20-tetrakis-(4-N-methylpyridyl)-porphyrin (H₂TMPyP) and 5,10,15,20-tetrakis-(4-sulfonatophenyl)-porphyrin (H₂TSPP) in water–ethanol solutions. It has been revealed that for both compounds the rate constant of quenching of the triplet states increases with increasing viscosity of the medium. Quenching of the excited triplet states of the dissociated (in water) and undissociated (in ethanol) forms of water-soluble porphyrins occurs with a different efficiency, and the rate constant of quenching the triplet states by molecular oxygen k _T thereby is higher for the dissociated form. It has been shown by means of mathematical modeling that the experimental results obtained can be described in terms of the change in the rate constants of intracomplex transitions in the porphyrin–oxygen collisional complex at varied solution viscosity and their difference for the dissociated and undissociated forms of water-soluble porphyrin.     

Stark spectroscopy of excited-state transitions in a conjugated polymer

Stark spectroscopy, which is well established for probing transitions between the ground and excited states of many material classes, is extended to transitions between transient excited states. To this end, it is combined with femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy on a conjugated polymer with appropriately introduced traps which harvest excitation energy and build up a sufficient excited state population. The results indicate a significant difference in the effective dipole moments between two short lived excited states.     

Collisional deexcitation of exotic hydrogen atoms in highly excited states

The deexcitation of exotic hydrogen atoms in highly excited states in collisions with hydrogen molecules has been studied using the classical-trajectory Monte Carlo method. The Coulomb transitions with large change of principal quantum number n have been found to be the dominant collisional deexcitation mechanism at high n. The molecular structure of the hydrogen target is shown to be essential for the dominance of transitions with large Δn. The external Auger effect has been studied in the eikonal approximation. The resulting partial wave cross-sections are consistent with unitarity and provide a more reliable input for cascade calculations than the previously used Born approximation. Received 28 May 2002 Published online 15 October 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: thomas@physik.unizh.ch     

Influence of electron-density variation on the population distributions of excited atoms in a plasma

The effects of electron-density variations on population distributions of excited atomic states in a plasma have been studied. For specified conditions, an analytic expression is derived between excitation and electron temperatures. It has been found that the ratio of the ionization rate of the excited atom to the rate of electron-density variation plays an important role in the temperature difference. When this ratio is of order unity, the temperature difference is significant. However, when this ratio is large or small compared with unity, the two temperatures are nearly equal. These predictions are investigated experimentally.     

The trapping of A1(XII) and (XIII) resonance lines in a laser-heated plasma

Effects of radiative trapping and quenching processes that may be important on a time scale of tens of picoseconds are examined in connection with the escape of A1(XII) and (XIII) resonance-line photons from a laser-heated aluminum plasma. For the A1(XII) line, radiative trapping by itself would introduce significant delays on this time scale. However, collisional ionization from the excited state is more important and dominates the transfer of this line. Unless the effective optical depth is reduced by rapid internal motions, the time dependence of the A1(XII) line will reflect the source distribution near the surface, rather than the state of the plasma in the interior. For the A1(XIII) line, the delay due to radiative trapping is smaller and collisional ionization is competitive, but does not completely dominate.     

Highly selective population of two excited states [2mm]in nonresonant two-photon absorption

A nonresonant two-photon absorption process can be manipulated by tailoring the ultra-short laser pulse. In this paper, we theoretically demonstrate a highly selective population of two excited states in the nonresonant two-photon absorption process by rationally designing a spectral phase distribution. Our results show that one excited state is maximally populated while the other state population is widely tunable from zero to the maximum value. We believe that the theoretical results may play an important role in the selective population of a more complex nonlinear process comprising nonresonant two-photon absorption, such as resonance-mediated (2+1)-three-photon absorption and (2+1)-resonant multiphoton ionization.     

基于双激发态对稠密等离子体中双电子复合速率系数的研究

讨论了稠密等离子体中双电子复合速率系数的计算方法,推导出了在双激发态间跃迁过程和关于双激发态的碰撞电离和自电离过程的影响下双电子复合速率系数作为关于电子密度函数的计算公式,并以类氖镍离子为例进行了计算.计算结果展示了双电子复合速率系数随电子密度增大的具体变化趋势.此外,还给出了在不同原子过程影响下双电子复合速率系数的数据,并进行了分析.     

Pulsed Optical Pumping as a Tool for the Determination of Population Mechanisms of Excited States in a Low-Pressure Mercury Discharge

Experiments are described in which a low-pressure mercury discharge is irradiated with a dye-laser pulse tuned resonant to one of the 6 3P-7 3S1 mercury transitions. The effects of this optical pumping process are monitored via fluorescence on many mercury transitions. The sign and time behavior of each fluorescence signal are different, and are determined by one or more of the following processes: a) radiative decay of the 7 3S1 level; b) a change in electron-impact excitation rate from the ground state induced by the optogal-vanic effect (OGE). This OGE results from the population redistribution in the 6 3P levels after radiative decay of the 7 3S1 level; c) a change in electron-impact excitation rate from the 6 3P levels; and d) a change in 6 3P-6 3P collisional excitation rate. It is demonstrated that the signal and time behavior of the fluorescence signals induced by the pulsed optical pumping process can be used to determine the population mechanism(s) of excited states qualitatively.     

Elementary Many‐Particle Processes in Plasma Microfields

The effect of electric and magnetic plasma microfields on elementary many‐body processes in plasmas is considered. As detected first by Inglis and Teller in 1939, the electric microfield controls several elementary processes in plasmas as transitions, line shifts and line broadening. We concentrate here on the many‐particle processes ionization, recombination, and fusion and study a wide area of plasma parameters. In the first part the state of art of investigations on microfield distributions is reviewed in brief. In the second part, various types of ionization processes are discussed with respect to the influence of electric microfields. It is demonstrated that the processes of tunnel and rescattering ionization by laser fields as well as the process of electron collisional ionization may be strongly influenced by the electric microfields in the plasma. The third part is devoted to processes of microfield action on fusion processes and the effects on three‐body recombination are investigated. It is shown that there are regions of plasma densities and temperatures, where the rate of nuclear fusion is accelerated by the electric microfields. This effect may be relevant for nuclear processes in stars. Further, fusion processes in ion clusters are studied. Finally we study in this section three‐body recombination effects and show that an electric microfield influences the three‐body electron‐ion recombination via the highly excited states. In the fourth part, the distribution of the magnetic microfield is investigated for equilibrium, nonequilibrium, and non‐uniform magnetized plasmas. We show that the field distribution in a neutral point of a non‐relativistic ideal equilibrium plasma is similar to the Holtsmark distribution for the electrical microfield. Relaxation processes in nonequilibrium plasmas may lead to additional microfields. We show that in turbulent plasmas the broadening of radiative electron transitions in atoms and ions, without change of the principle quantum number, may be due to the Zeeman effect and may exceed Doppler and Stark broadening as well. Further it is shown that for optical radiation the effect of depolarization of a linearly polarized laser beams propagating through a magnetized plasma may be rather strong. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

用Monte Carlo模拟方法研究ICP－AES中的电离和激发过程──Ⅱ．有关电离激发机理的讨论

本文应用ＭｏｎｔｅＣａｒｌｏ模拟所得到的结果，定量地评价ＩＣＰ中各种可能发生的反应过程对电离激发的贡献，详细讨论了不同条件下ＩＣＰ中分析元素电离激发机理。结果表明ＩＣＰ中存在的电离激发机理很大程度上取决于电子密度，温度以及氢等粒子的密度。     

Measuring the degree of unitarity for any quantum process

The state transfer from cesium nS (n = 45?53) states to Stark (product) states induced by a weak electric field (WEF) pulse was investigated using the state-selective field ionization method in a standard magneto-optic trap (MOT). The WEF pulse shifts the nS Rydberg states that anticross with the (n ? 4) hydrogen-like manifolds, causing state transitions from the initial excited nS state to the Stark states. The mechanism of transfer was investigated by changing the rising and falling time of the WEF pulse and the switching off time of the external field pulse had an important role during the evolution process of product states. The population of the product states is also measured as a function of the principal quantum number and Rydberg densities.     

Statics and dynamics of excited states of oxygen-deficient centers in SiO<Subscript>2</Subscript>

The parameters of excited states of oxygen-deficient centers (ODCs) in high-energy-electron irradiated crystalline and glassy SiO₂ have been studied using optical absorption, luminescence, and photoelectron emission spectroscopy. Additional evidence has been gained in support of the model of a neutral oxygen vacancy in ODCs, the diagram of electronic transitions has been refined, and their characteristics have been quantified. The possibility of ionization of the singlet and triplet defect states at a transition to the anomalously relaxed configuration has been demonstrated using the particular example of α-ODCs. Nonradiative excitation transfer from nonbridging oxygen centers to the triplet ODC state has been observed.     

Influence of electron-atom cross section uncertainties on shock wave structure

The exact value of the electron-atom collisional ionization cross section for argon is not accurately known. The purpose of the present research is to determine numerically the effect of varying the magnitude of the electron-atom cross section on nonequilibrium shock-wave structure. Mach 18 shock waves propagating into an argon-like gas at 1 cm-Hg and 300°K have been analyzed. Thermal, ionizational, and excitational non-equilibrium are considered in the relaxation region behind the shock wave. Electrons in the relaxation region are formed by a two-step collisional process, wherein the atom is first excited and then it is ionized. The precursor is formed by ground and excited state continuum radiation and line radiation which is emitted, but not reabsorbed, in the region behind the shock wave. When the electron-atom ionization cross section is varied from 1·86 × 10^?4to 1·86 × 10^?2cm²/erg, the results show that (1) it influences the coupling between the precursor and relaxation region through the radiative source functions, (2) it does not influence the distance necessary to attain equilibrium behind the shock wave, (3) it inversely influences the magnitude of the precursor ionization, and excitation, and (4) it inversely influences both the free electron and excited state population in the relaxation layer.     

The effects of doubly excited states on ionization balance

The effects of highly doubly excited states on ionization balance are investigated. In the calculation, A Collisional-Radiative model in Detailed-Configuration-Accounting (DCA) is applied to population calculations for NLTE plasmas. Configuration-averaged rate coefficients that needed in the rate equations are obtained based on the first order perturbation theory. The Hatree-Fock-Slater self-consistent-field method is used to calculate the electron wave functions. The mean ionization stage of high-Z plasma Lu is presented. The comparison shows that the mean ionization stage increases more than 3 stages when doubly excited states 5l6l' and 5l5l' are not included in the population calculations.     

Laser excited population redistribution in the 2p3p multiplet in neon

Using neon hollow cathode lamp and employing laser optogalvanic technique, we have studied population redistribution in the 2p⁵3p multiplet. The spectra recorded in the laser energy region of 23300 cm^− 1 -23600 cm^− 1 show transitions originating from both the laser excited levels as well as from an adjacent level whose population builds up as a result of collisional deactivation. Employing the optical delay technique, we have been able to extract decay rates associated with the collisional population mixing of the p levels.