Polarization recombination as a new channel for recombination of free electrons on complex ions

Abstract

A new channel for recombination of free electrons on multicharged ions with a complex core is under investigation. The channel is connected with a dynamic polarization of an ion's core by the colliding electron which results in radiation of the core and capture of the electron. This new channel (called polarization recombination, PlR) is estimated in the frame of a statistical (Thomas-Fermi) model of the complex ion. It is shown that the contribution of PlR to the total recombination rates may be comparable to or exceed (by more than an order of magnitude) the standard contribution of radiative recombination.

The role of target polarization in electron–ion recombination

“…For low electron energies Z eff reduces to the net ionic charge, Z 0 , while for large ε 1 and ω it becomes equal to Z. Based on their estimate (2), Bureeva and Lisitsa (1998) claimed that 'the contribution of PR to the total recombination rates may be comparable to or exceed (by more than an order of magnitude) the standard contribution of radiative recombination'. However, estimate (2) should be used with caution.…”

Polarization Recombination, a New Recombination Channel

“…The function F X b for q 0:3; X 5 was directly obtained [4] from numerical data [3]. b à X 1 À q p 0:885X 3=2 9 1:51 À q p X 3=2 : 4…”

Effect of Target Polarization in Electron-Ion Recombination

“…Hence, the estimates presented in Ref. [19], grossly exagerrated the effect. Realistic numerical calculations based on Eq.…”

“…In this work we focus on a different recombination mechanism, i.e., polarization recombination (PR), in which the photon is emitted by the target ion polarized by the incident electron [18][19][20]. It is known that radiation due to target polarization is an important component of the photon spectra in electron and proton bremsstrahlung on many-electron atoms and in collisional radiative processes involving clusters and fullerenes (see [21,22] and references therein).…”

“…Note that a 2nd PR contribution obtained from (c) by switching the order of the Coulomb and photon interactions, has been added [20,24]. For incident electron energies smaller than the target ionization potential, and high-lying (Rydberg) final states f, amplitude (1) can be estimated as [19,20] hfjrj"i1 ÿ ! 2 =Z i d !…”