THERMAL IONIZATION IN A SYSTEM WITH A DISTRIBUTION OF IONIZATION POTENTIALS
Abstract
In a hydrogen plasma the microfields act upon the neutral atoms and cause Stark effects which result in a distribution of ionization potentials. In this report the distribution function is derived and used with the Saha equation to calculate the electron densities which are then compared with those calculated from a single ionization potential derived from an average microfield given by CeN sub e quantity to the 2/3 power where C has been calculated as 4.2, 3.7 and 2.6, depending on the method of averaging. The temperature range considered is 5750 to 10700 K in which the electron densities are between 10 to the 14th to 17th power per cc when the neutral particle densities are between 10 to the 17th to 19th power per cc. Within these ranges, calculation using the distribution equation gives values up to about 2% greater than that given by the Saha equation using the ionization potential of an isolated atom, whereas the electron density calculated from a single ionization potential based on an average field is up to about 1% greater. It is shown that the population of neutral atoms which can be excited to levels with high principal quantum number is dependent upon the electron density. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1962
- Accession Number
- AD0285031
Entities
People
- A. Maitland
- M.h. Dunn