Strong enhancement of electron-ion recombination induced by free-bound and bound-bound resonance transitions

Abstract

SynopsisThe role of free-bound and bound-bound resonant nonadiabatic transitions on electron-ion recombination in plasma of noble gas mixtures is studied. A kinetic model of recombination is proposed which includes the energy relaxation in collisions with electrons, resonant and non-resonant electron capture to Rydberg states through collisions of atomic ions with neutral particles, and resonant n → n’ transitions. It is shown that the resonant processes considered may strongly enhance total recombination coefficient even at relatively high degrees of ionization of plasma.