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)     

Asymmetry of Stark profiles

The theoretical basis is presented that allows to compute the Stark broadened line shapes of atomic ions up to the quadrupole terms in the interaction potential between the radiator and the plasma electric microfields and their gradients. The nature of the corrections due to the plasma polarization effects associated with the electron distribution around ion perturbers are carefully analyzed. The relevant universal plasma functions are evaluated in a cluster expansion or by Monte Carlo simulations, and the line shape is calculated with ion dynamic effects by the Model Microfield Method. The asymmetry of the Lyman line of hydrogenic ions is then studied. Received 21 January 2000 and Received in final form 27 April 2000     

Influence of Microfields on Coherent Optics Measurements of Electric Field Intensity

The influence of random microfields on measurements of external regular electric field by coherent nonlinear optics is analyzed. At an electron concentration <10¹⁴cm^?3, the influence of microfields may be neglected. Possible separation of inputs from these microfields into the resulting signal is discussed.     

Influence of surface electric fields on the alignment of the hydrogen-2p state after beam-foil-excitation

In contrast to other atomic systems, foil excited hydrogen or hydrogen-like atoms show a negative alignment for various energy ranges. We suggest that this particular behaviour results from the degeneracy of differentL states in hydrogenic systems and an observable influence of a surface electric field modifying the initial alignment via Stark effect.     

Possibility of lowering the effective emittance of neutralized ion beams

Self-similarity conditions are determined for the steady states of a quasineutral beam plasma generated during the transport of ion beams in a gaseous medium. The self-consistent radial distribution of the beam and plasma densities is taken into account. Under the resulting conditions the radial electric field of the beam-plasma system is linear, and it is possible for beams to be transported without nonlinear distortion of their phase response characteristics or an increase in the effective emittance. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 68, 112–115 (April 1998)     

Static electric dipole polarizability of lithium atoms in Debye plasmas

<正>The static electric dipole polarizabilities of the ground state and n≤3 excited states of a lithium atom embedded in a weekly coupled plasma environment are investigated as a function of the plasma screening radium.The plasma screening of the Coulomb interaction is described by the Debye-H（u|¨）ckel potential and the interaction between the valence electron and the atomic core is described by a model potential.The electron energies and wave functions for both the bound and continuum states are calculated by solving the Schrodinger equation numerically using the symplectic integrator.The oscillator strengths,partial-wave,and total static dipole polarizabilities of the ground state and n≤3 excited states of the lithium atom are calculated.Comparison of present results with those of other authors, when available,is made.The results for the 2s ground state demonstrated that the oscillator strengths and the static dipole polarizabilities from np orbitals do not always increase or decrease with the plasma screening effect increasing, unlike that for hydrogen-like ions,especially for 2s→3p transition there is a zero value for both the oscillator strength and the static dipole polarizability for screening length D = 10.3106a₀,which is associated with the Cooper minima.     

Modernized active spectroscopic diagnostics (CXRS) of the T-10 tokamak

This work presents the results of modernization of the CXRS (charge exchange recombination spectroscopy) diagnostics [1] at the T-10 tokamak. The relevance of this work is due to the importance of measurements of the ion temperature and nuclei density of the working gas and impurities for analysis of transport processes in the plasma ion component. Measurements of radial profiles of the ion temperature are extremely important for investigating the geodesic acoustic mode behavior which is conducted at the T-10 [2]. The modernized scheme of CXRS measurements, as well as the design and operational features of the spectrometer created for the new diagnostics, is described. Principles of data recording and further processing are considered in detail; attention is given to the problem of calibration of the whole complex of equipment. The performed changes in diagnostics allow the measurements to be taken simultaneously in three spectral intervals: in the region of the beam line H_α, the CXRS line of carbon ion C⁵⁺, and the CXRS line of one of the hydrogen-like ions: He¹⁺, Li²⁺, N⁶⁺, O⁷⁺ or Ne⁹⁺. This makes it possible to measure the density profiles of two plasma impurities simultaneously, as well as the ion temperature from CXRS lines of different elements. The modernized diagnostics significantly broadens the possibilities of studying the physics of transport processes and quasi-coherent modes of plasma oscillations at the T-10.     

Radiative transition of hydrogen-like ions in quantum plasma

At fusion plasma electron temperature and number density regimes of 1?×?10³–1?×?10⁷?K and 1?×?10²⁸–1?×?10³¹/m³, respectively, the excited states and radiative transition of hydrogen-like ions in fusion plasmas are studied. The results show that quantum plasma model is more suitable to describe the fusion plasma than the Debye screening model. Relativistic correction to bound-state energies of the low-Z hydrogen-like ions is so small that it can be ignored. The transition probability decreases with plasma density, but the transition probabilities have the same order of magnitude in the same number density regime.     

Field enhanced dielectronic recombination of Si11+ ions

The enhancement of dielectronic recombination by applied electric fields has been observed and measured for the first time in a wide range of controlled and measurable fields using multiply charged ions. The heavy ion storage ring, CRYRING, at Stockholm University was used to store a beam of Si¹¹⁺ and collide it with a cold electron target. The observation of a substantial monotonic increase of the rate coefficient for the group of higher Rydberg states is in puzzling disagreement with theoretical calculations of electric field enhanced dielectronic recombination. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A study of Z-pinch in capillary filled by boron vapours

Pinching discharge in non-ablative and ablative capillaries filled by boron vapors is studied. The aim is to find out conditions for lasing at Balmer alpha transition of hydrogen-like boron ions B⁴⁺ (λ= 26.23 nm). The primary pumping process under consideration is a three-body collisional recombination, which takes place in non-stationary underheated plasma during the pinch expansion stage. The results of Z-pinch computer modeling including the plasma kinetics and gain evaluation are compared for two different quarter periods of electrical current passing through the capillary.     

Ni27+ 离子Kα和Kβ 型衰变的双电子复合速率系数的计算

用HFR波函数对低密度类氢Ni²⁷⁺等离子体与电子相互作用的KLn和KMn共振激发的双电子复合过程进行了细致的理论计算研究.根据可能的重要辐射衰变通道，分析了Ni²⁷⁺等离子体Kα 型和Kβ 型辐射衰变的双电子复合速率系数随旁观电子主量子数n和轨道角动量量子数l与电子温度的变化行为，计算了Ni²⁷⁺等离子体双电子复合过程的总速率系数.研究结果表明，在低密度条件下，Kα 型和Kβ型辐射衰变的分支双电子复合速率系数与旁观电子主量子数n和轨道角动量量子数l有重要关系，前者的分支速率系数远大于后者. 关键词： 27+离子')" href="#">Ni²⁷⁺离子 Kα型和Kβ型辐射衰变')" href="#">Kα型和Kβ型辐射衰变 双电子复合 速率系数     

Dynamics of electron-hole plasma in semiconductor opening switches for ultradense currents

A physicomathematical model for calculating the dynamics of the electron-hole plasma in semiconductor opening switches for ultradense currents is developed. The model takes account of the real doping profile of a semiconductor p ⁺-p-n-n ⁺ structure and the following elementary processes in the electron-hole plasma: current-carrier diffusion and drift in high electric fields, recombination on deep impurities and Auger recombination, and collisional ionization in a dense plasma. The electrical pumping circuit of the opening switch is calculated by solving the Kirchhoff equations. The motion of the plasma in the semiconductor structure is analyzed on the basis of the model. It is shown that for ultrahigh pumping levels the interruption of the current in the opening switch occurs in the heavily doped regions of the p ⁺-p-n-n ⁺ structure and is due to saturation of the particle drift velocity in high electric fields. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 67, 64–70 (October 1997)     

Modelling of a nitrogen x-ray laser pumped by capillary discharge

We performed computer modelling of a fast electrical discharge in a nitrogen-filled alumina capillary in order to discover discharge system parameters that may lead to efficient recombination pumping of soft X-ray laser with active medium created by H-like nitrogen ions. The space-time dependences of pinch plasma quantities were found by means of a one-dimensional MHD code. Time dependences of populations of all ionisation states and populations of selected energy levels of lithium-, helium- and hydrogen-like nitrogen ions were evaluated using the FLY code as a post-processor. The population inversion was found at the quantum transition corresponding to the Balmer α-line of N⁶⁺ ions and the resulting gain factor was evaluated for different capillary radii, initial pressure, electric current peaks and periods. A gain factor of 1 cm⁻¹ spanning the time interval of 1 ns was found for an optimised arrangement with capillary radius 1.5 mm, peak current 50 kA, quarter period 40 ns and filling gas pressure 0.5 kPa. It is pointed out that even higher values of the gain factor may be achieved with thinner capillaries and shorter current pulses, e.g. a gain factor of 6 cm⁻¹ is achieved if the capillary radius is 0.5 mm, peak current 56 kA, quarter period 15 ns, and filling nitrogen pressure 3.9 kPa.     

Anomalous Stark effect on excitonic states in a preionization electric field

The low-temperature (T=80 K) excitonic light reflection spectra of CdS crystals in the electric field of a Schottky barrier are investigated. An anomalous Stark shift of the hydrogen-like excitonic state in the preionization limit is recorded for the first time. The distribution of the subbarrier electric field is determined from an analysis of the spectra performed on the basis of the theory of nonlocal dielectric response in a spatially inhomogeneous medium. Pis'ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 64, No. 1, 38–42 (10 July 1996)     

Theoretical dielectronic recombination rate coefficients for ground-state hydrogen-like neon

Dielectronic recombination rate coefficients are calculated and presented for ground-state hydrogen-like neon as a function of electron temperature. Doubly excited nl n′l′ configurations of intermediate resonance states are restricted to n, n′ = 2, 3, and 4 with all allowed values of l and l′. Computations have been performed in intermediate coupling with configuration interaction.     

Enhancement of low energy electron-ion recombination in a magnetic field: influence of transient field effects

Electron-ion recombination observed in storage ring experiments shows a strong enhancement relative to what standard radiative recombination rates predict. We simulate the effect of a transient motional electric field induced by the merging of an electron and an ion beam in the electron cooler which opens an additional pathway for free-bound transitions of electrons. We show that the measured rate contains a significant contribution from radiative stabilization of Rydberg states formed by this transient motional electric field. The absolute excess recombination rates obtained are in good agreement with the experimental data. The scaling of the rate with the ion charge and the magnetic guiding field is analyzed.     

Semiclassical theory of the radiative-collisional cascade in a Rydberg atom

We have developed a two-dimensional semiclassical model of the radiative-collisional cascade for hydrogen-like systems. We describe the collisions with electrons and ions by classical diffusion in the space of principal and orbital quantum numbers and use an iterative procedure that consistently takes into account the quantum nature of the radiative cascade for radiative transitions. The model establishes the correspondence between the quantum and classical approaches and indicates that the latter cannot be directly used to calculate the population kinetics of highly excited atomic states. Our calculations of the two-dimensional populations of highly excited atomic hydrogen states for selective, three-body, and photorecombination sources of population allow the data of one-dimensional kinetic models to be refined. The calculated intensities of recombination lines demonstrate the degree of nonequilibrium of the Rydberg state populations under typical astrophysical plasma conditions.     

Heating and cooling of the multiply charged ion nonequilibrium plasma in a high-current extended low-inductance discharge

Using a radiation magnetohydrodynamics two-temperature model (RMHD model) of a high-current volumetric radiating Z-discharge, the heating and cooling of the nitrogen plasma in a pulsed pinched extended discharge is investigated as applied to the problem of creating a recombination laser based on 3 → 2 transitions of hydrogen-like nitrogen ions (λ = 13.4 nm). It is shown that the power supply of the discharge, which is represented by a dual storage-forming line and a transmission line, makes it possible to raise the power density of the nitrogen plasma to 0.01–1.00 TW/cm³. Accordingly, there arises the possibility of generating a fully ionized (i.e., consisting of bare nuclei and electrons) plasma through the heating (compression) of electrons owing to the self-magnetic field of the plasma current and Joule heat even if the plasma is cooled by its own radiation at this stage. Such a plasma is needed to produce the lasing (active) medium of a recombination laser based on electron transitions in hydrogen-like ions. At the second stage, it is necessary to rapidly and deeply cool the plasma to 20–40 eV for 1–2 ns. Cooling of the fully ionized expanding plasma was numerically simulated with the discharge current switched on and off by means of a switch with a rapidly rising resistance. In both cases, the plasma expansion in the discharge is not adiabatic. Even after the discharge current is fairly rapidly switched off, heating of electrons continues inside the plasma column for a time longer than the switching time. Discharge current switchoff improves the electron cooling efficiency only slightly. Under such conditions, the plasma cools down to 50–60 eV in the former case and to 46–54 eV in the latter case for 2–3 ns.     

High-precision mass measurements of hydrogen-like <Superscript>24</Superscript>Mg<Superscript>11+</Superscript> and <Superscript>26</Superscript>Mg<Superscript>11+</Superscript> ions in a Penning trap

For the determination of the bound-electron g factor in hydrogen-like heavy ions the mass of the ion is needed at a relative uncertainty of at least 1 ppb. With the SMILETRAP Penning trap mass spectrometer at the Manne Siegbahn Laboratory in Stockholm several mass measurements of ions with even-even nuclei at this level of precision have been performed so far, exploiting the fact that the mass precision increases linearly with the ion charge. Measurements of masses of the hydrogen-like ions of the two Mg-isotopes ²⁴Mg and ²⁶Mg are reported. The masses of the hydrogen-like ions are 23.979011054(14) u and 25.976562354(34) u, corresponding to the atomic masses 23.985041690(14) u and 25.982592986(34) u, respectively. The possibility to use these two isotopes for the first observation of an isotope effect in the bound-electron g factor in hydrogen-like heavy ions is discussed.