No Arabic abstract
We study double ionization of Mg by electron impact through the vantage point of classical mechanics. We consider all electron-electron correlations in a Coulomb four-body problem, where three electrons belong to the atom and the fourth electron causes the impact ionization. From our model we compute the double-ionization probability of Mg for impact energies from 15, to 125 eV. Double ionization occurs through eight double-ionization mechanisms, which we classify into four categories: inner shell capture, direct, delay and ionized inner shell mechanisms. We show that delay and ionized inner shell mechanisms require electron-electron correlations among the four electrons, and are responsible for the second increase in the double-ionization probability. Furthermore, we show that our theoretical prediction about the relative prominence of certain double ionization mechanisms is in agreement with experimental results on the relative prominence of non-first- over first-order mechanisms.
Electron-impact direct double ionization (DDI) process is studied as a sequence of two and three step processes. Contribution from ionization-ionization, ionization-excitation-ionization, and excitation-ionization-ionization processes is taken into account. The present results help to resolve the long-standing discrepancies; in particular, a good agreement with experimental measurements is obtained for double ionization cross-sections of $O^{1+}$, $O^{2+}$, $O^{3+}$, $C^{1+}$, and $Ar^{2+}$ ions. We show that distribution of the energy of scattered and ejected electrons, which participate in the next step of ionization, strongly affects DDI cross-sections.
Electron-impact ionization of lithium is studied using the convergent close-coupling (CCC) method at 25.4 and 54.4 eV. Particular attention is paid to the spin-dependence of the ionization cross sections. Convergence is found to be more rapid for the spin asymmetries, which are in good agreement with experiment, than for the underlying cross sections. Comparison with the recent measured and DS3C-calculated data of Streun et al (1999) is most intriguing. Excellent agreement is found with the measured and calculated spin asymmetries, yet the discrepancy between the CCC and DS3C cross sections is very large.
The B-spline R-matrix and the convergent close-coupling methods are used to study electron collisions with neutral beryllium over an energy range from threshold to 100 eV. Coupling to the target continuum significantly affects the results for transitions from the ground state, but to a lesser extent the strong transitions between excited states. Cross sections are presented for selected transitions between low-lying physical bound states of beryllium, as well as for elastic scattering, momentum transfer, and ionization. The present cross sections for transitions from the ground state from the two methods are in excellent agreement with each other, and also with other available results based on nonperturbative convergent pseudo-state and time-dependent close-coupling models. The elastic cross section at low energies is dominated by a prominent shape resonance. The ionization from the $(2s2p)^3P$ and $(2s2p)^1P$ states strongly depends on the respective term. The current predictions represent an extensive set of electron scattering data for neutral beryllium, which should be sufficient for most modeling applications.
Rate coefficients for photorecombination (PR) and cross sections for electron-impact ionization (EII) of Fe$^{14+}$ forming Fe$^{13+}$ and Fe$^{15+}$, respectively, have been measured by employing the electron-ion merged-beams technique at a heavy-ion storage ring. Rate coefficients for PR and EII of Fe$^{14+}$ ions in a plasma are derived from the experimental measurements. Simple parametrizations of the experimentally derived plasma rate coefficients are provided for use in the modeling of photoionized and collisionally ionized plasmas. In the temperature ranges where Fe$^{14+}$ is expected to form in such plasmas the latest theoretical rate coefficients of Altun et al. [Astron. Astrophys. 474, 1051 (2007)] for PR and of Dere [Astron. Astrophys. 466, 771 (2007)] for EII agree with the experimental results to within the experimental uncertainties. Common features in the PR and EII resonance structures are identified and discussed.
Using a semi-classical model, we investigate frustrated double ionization (FDI) in $mathrm{D_3^+}$, a two-electron triatomic molecule, when driven by an intense, linearly polarized, near-infrared (800 nm) laser field. We compute the kinetic energy release of the nuclei and find a good agreement between experiment and our model. We explore the two pathways of FDI and show that, with increasing field strength, over-the-barrier ionization overtakes tunnel ionization as the underlying mechanism of FDI. Moreover, we compute the angular distribution of the ion fragments for FDI and identify a feature that can potentially be observed experimentally and is a signature of only one of the two pathways of FDI.