Saha decrements and collisional-radiative recombination and ionization coefficients for a nonequilibrium nitrogen plasma

Abstract

Using a time-dependent approach, a collisional-radiative model is developed for a nitrogen plasma. Effective recombination and ionization coefficients are calculated for optically thin and optically thick cases in bound-bound u.v. radiation. The steady-state population densities for neutral and ionic states are presented in terms of their deviations from Saha equilibrium predictions. These results show the approach of the plasma to local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) as a function of electron temperature and density. The computations focus on temperatures between 1.0 and 3.0 eV and electron densities between 10 16 and 10 19 cm −3.