Centrifugal electron-ion recombination

Transient electric-field pulses have been used to stimulate electron/ion recombination in a low density plasma in the presence of a static electric field. The measured recombination rates exhibit a strong dependence on the relative orientation of the pulsed and static fields. For weak pulses, the recombination rate is significantly higher for orthogonal as opposed to parallel or antiparallel field configurations. The enhanced recombination rate is attributed to the dynamic stabilization of high-m Rydberg levels that are populated during the pulse. Classical simulations confirm the importance of angular momentum rather than energy transfer.     

Effect of target polarization in electron-ion recombination

We present results of a study of the effect of target polarization on electron-ion recombination, and show that coherent radiation by the target electrons gives a large contribution to the recombination rate. It significantly modifies the nonresonant photorecombination background. A procedure has been devised whereby this contribution can be evaluated together with the conventional radiative recombination, independently of the dielectronic recombination component. Numerical results are presented for Zn2+, Cd2+, Sn4+, and Xe8+, showing up to an order-of-magnitude enhancement.     

Phase-dependent electron-ion recombination in a microwave field

Using picosecond laser photoionization of Li in a microwave field we have observed phase-dependent reccombination of the photoelectrons with their parent Li+ ions. Recombination occurs at phases of the microwave field such that energy is removed from the photoelectron in the first microwave cycle after excitation, and there are two maxima in the recombination in each microwave cycle. These observations are consistent with observations made using an attosecond pulse train phase locked to an infrared pulse and with the "simpleman's" model, modified to account for the fact that the photoelectrons are produced in a Coulomb potential.     

Experimental and theoretical determination of the continuum absorption coefficient for xenon

The continuous absorption coefficient of xenon has been measured in a shock-tube and new calculations have been performed which take into account the gap between 7p and 7s levels. This improves the agreement between experimental values and the ones predicted by the theory of Biberman and Norman.     

Highly charged ions from laser-cluster interactions: local-field-enhanced impact ionization and frustrated electron-ion recombination

Our molecular dynamics analysis of Xe_{147-5083} clusters identifies two mechanisms that contribute to the yet unexplained observation of extremely highly charged ions in intense laser cluster experiments. First, electron impact ionization is enhanced by the local cluster electric field, increasing the highest charge states by up to 40%; a corresponding theoretical method is developed. Second, electron-ion recombination after the laser pulse is frustrated by acceleration electric fields typically used in ion detectors. This increases the highest charge states by up to 90%, as compared to the usual assumption of total recombination of all cluster-bound electrons. Both effects together augment the highest charge states by up to 120%, in reasonable agreement with experiments.     

Experimental determination of linear attenuation coefficient of normal,benign and malignant breast tissues

The linear attenuation coefficients for normal (adipose and glandular) and neoplastic (benign and malignant) breast tissues were measured using monoenergetic X-ray beams at the energy range of 8–30 keV, combining narrow beam geometry and high energy resolution obtained using a diffracted X-ray beam. The measured values are compared with predicted ones calculated according to the mixture rule and with previous experimental data showing a good agreement within the experimental uncertainties. Our results show that there is some degree of overlap among glandular, benign and malignant values. Nevertheless, significant differences (p < 0.05) exist in the linear attenuation coefficient between glandular and malignant at energies below 28 keV. Finally, a fitting procedure was applied to values for each group (mean and extremes values) in order to summarize all data.     

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.     

Total dielectronic recombination rate coefficient for Co-like tungsten

Ab initio calculation of the total dielectronic recombination (DR) rate coefficient from the ground state 3s²3p⁶3d⁹(J=5/2) of Co-like tungsten is performed employing the relativistic distorted-wave approximation with configuration-interaction. The DR contributions mainly come from complex series 3d⁸4ln′l′. The complex series 3p⁵3d¹⁰n′l′, 3p⁵3d⁹4ln′l′ and 3d⁸5ln′l′ also contribute significantly to the total DR rates at relatively high electron temperatures. The l′ and n′ dependences of the partial rate coefficient are investigated. The inclusion of decays into autoionizing levels followed by radiative cascades (DAC) enlarges the total DR rate coefficients by a factor of about 10%. The level-by-level extrapolation method is developed to include DAC effects. The total DR rate coefficients are fitted to an empirical formula. It is shown that at temperatures above 2.5 keV the Burgess-Merts (BM) semiempirical formula can provide DR results with an accuracy of about 15%, whereas at electron temperatures below 100 eV it underestimates the DR rate coefficients by up to a few orders of magnitude and its temperature dependence is completely inadequate. The comparison of the results for Ni-like and Co-like tungsten shows that these two sets of DR rate coefficients are very close in magnitude at relatively high electron temperatures.     

Fundamentals of electron-ion interaction

A brief review on the physics of electron-ion collisions is given. After an introduction focussing on the applied importance of electron-ion interactions a discussion of experimental techniques based on colliding beams of electrons and ions follows. The main part deals with the different types of electron-ion collision processes. An overview is provided on (1) electronimpact ionization of ions, (2) electron scattering from ions, (3) electron-impact excitation of ions, and (4) recombination of ions with free electrons.     

Quasiparticle recombination time and multiplication coefficient in superconducting Pb films

The quasiparticle recombination time and the multiplication coefficient in superconducting Pb films have been determined independently from measurements of the energy gap changes under optical pumping.     

Measurement of the FeXXV dielectronic recombination rate coefficient in the PLT tokamak plasma

The FeXXV dielectronic recombination rate coefficient associated with the 1s-2p core excitation has been measured as a function of the electron temperature in the range from 0.9–3 keV from the observations of the satellite lines emitted from the PLT (Princeton large torus) tokamak plasma. These measurements are compared with recent theoretical predictions of Bely-Dubau et al. as well as with the approximation formulae of Burgess and Merts et al., and the results of Jacobs et al. Excellent agreement is obtained with the more recent calculations.     

Laser-enhanced electron-ion capture and antihydrogen formation

Zeitschrift für Physik A Hadrons and nuclei - Using gaseous60CoI2 sources, the velocity distribution of60Ni nuclei afterβ-decay of60Co has been measured by the...     

A determination of the nitric oxide Einstein coefficient ratios

The ratios of the fundamental and first overtone A-values for NO vibrational levels 2–9 have been measured experimentally by observing the i.r. fluorescence from electron irradiated mixtures of N₂ and O₂.