Lowering of the Populations of Excited Hydrogen and Helium Atoms in Plasmas Irradiated by a Laser Beam

The populations of excited hydrogen and helium atoms in non-L.T.E. plasmas have been calculated for two different physical situations, namely (i) no external radiation field present, and (ii) strong superposed radiation originating from a CO₂, Ruby or Argon Ion Laser. The radiation field intervenes in the collisional-radiative model via two new terms: Photoionization and stimulated recombination induced by the Laser radiation field. The solutions of the rate equations yield a lowering of the populations when a plasma is irradiated by a Laser beam. The lowering is different for cold recombining and hot diffusion-dominated plasmas. At high radiation densities a saturation effect occurs, since the photoionization rate becomes equal to the rate of stimulated recombination. Measurements of the populations of excited H and He atoms in a glow discharge irradiated by a CO₂ Laser beam of power density 10⁵ W/cm² are in broad agreement with the theoretical predictions.