Effective Recombination Coefficients Research Articles

Excitation mechanisms of C II optical permitted lines in ionized nebulae

Context. Carbon is the fourth most abundant element in the universe and its distribution is critical to understanding stellar evolution and nucleosynthesis. In optical studies of ionized nebulae, the only way to determine the C/H abundance is by using faint C II recombination lines (RLs). However, these lines give systematically higher abundances than their collisionally excited counterparts, observable at ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths. Therefore, a proper understanding of the excitation mechanisms of the faint permitted lines is crucial for addressing this long-standing abundance discrepancy (AD) problem. Aims. In this study, we investigate the excitation mechanisms of C II lines λλ3918, 3920, 4267, 5342, 6151, 6462, 7231, 7236, 7237, and 9903. Methods. We use the DEep Spectra of Ionized REgions Database (DESIRED) that contains spectra of H II regions, planetary nebulae and other objects to analyze the fluorescence contributions to these lines and the accuracy of the atomic recombination data used to model the C+ ion. Results. We find that C II λλ4267, 5342, 6151, 6462, and 9903 arise exclusively from recombinations with no fluorescent contributions. In addition, the recombination theory for these lines is consistent with the observations. Our findings show that the AD problem for C2+ is not due to fluorescence in the widely used C II lines or errors in their atomic parameters, but to other phenomena such as temperature variations or chemical inhomogeneities. On the other hand, C II λλ3918, 3920, 6578, 7231, 7236, 7237 have important fluorescent contributions, which are inadvisable for tracing the C2+ abundances. We also discuss the effects of possible inconsistencies in the atomic effective recombination coefficients of C II λλ6578, 7231, 7236, and 7237.

Lower-ionosphere electron density and effective recombination coefficients from multi-instrument space observations and ground VLF measurements during solar flares

A new model to predict the electron density and effective recombination coefficient of the lower ionosphere under solar flare conditions is presented. This model relies on space-borne solar irradiance measurements in coincidence with ground recorded active transmissions of Very Low Frequency (VLF), (<30 kHz) signals. Use is made of the irradiance measured by broad-band radiometers onboard the satellites: GOES, SDO, and PROBA2. Measurements are made over succeeding and partly overlapping wavelength intervals of the instrument bandpass ranges altogether covering the range 0.1–20 nm. The aim is to determine the effectiveness of the particular instrument bandpass in producing changes in the ionization of the lower ionosphere (D-region) during solar X-ray flares. Ionization efficiency is evaluated using modelled Solar Spectral Irradiance for each flare separately and for each instrument as a function of its bandpass.The new model is based on coupling of the continuity equation with the Appleton relation and uses the concept of time delay – the time lag of the extreme VLF amplitude and phase behind the flare irradiance maximum. The solution of the continuity equation predicts the electron density time - height profile for 55–100 km altitude.An analysis of M to X class flares shows the flare-enhanced electron densities due to a particular ionizing wavelength domain are in good agreement for the case where irradiance is taken over the bandpass of (1) either GOES (0.1–0.8 nm) or SDO/ESP (0.1–7 nm) for up to 90 km (2) either SDO/ESP or PROBA2/LYRA (1–2 +6–20 nm) at heights above 90 km. The results agree within 22% for heights up to 90 km, and differ by at most a factor of 2 for heights above 90 km. Remarkable agreement is shown between measured and evaluated time delay; discrepancies are generally less than 8%. The effective recombination coefficient is deduced from the model itself and is found to be consistent with other independent estimates.

Repetitively pulsed nanosecond discharge plasma decay in propane–oxygen gas mixture in the presence of a heating electric field

Plasma decay in the afterglow of a repetitively pulsed nanosecond discharge in a stoichiometric propane–oxygen mixture was experimentally investigated when a weak heating DC electric field was applied and in its absence. The discharge was ignited at room gas temperature and a pressure of 1–2 Torr and was characterized by low specific energy inputs (<0.004 eV per molecule in one pulse). Using microwave interferometry, the temporal evolution of the electron density during plasma decay was studied, and the effective recombination coefficients were obtained from data processing. It was shown that the rate of plasma decay behaved in a non-monotonic manner with increasing degree of propane oxidation; at first the decay rate grew, then passed through a maximum, fell and saturated in the limit of a large (~2000) number of pulses. In this limit, the effect of the heating DC electric field on the plasma decay decreased with approaching chemical equilibrium. Numerical simulation of the observed effects was performed for low and high oxidation degrees of propane taking into account changes in the composition of positive ions in the plasma. Good agreement was obtained between measurements and calculations of the electron density during plasma decay in these cases. It was shown that the formation of cluster ions in the discharge afterglow plays a fundamental role. The plasma decay was controlled by electron recombination with hydrocarbon cluster ion at low oxidation degree of propane and with water cluster (hydrated) ions at high oxidation degree. A hypothesis was proposed to explain the observed nonmonotonic behavior of the plasma decay rate with an increase in the propane oxidation in the discharge, based on the formation of hydrated hydrocarbon ions CxHy+(H2O)k at moderate oxidation degrees.

Modeling and analysis of the effects of inhomogeneous carrier distributions in InGaN multiple quantum wells

It is well known that carrier distribution in InGaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) can be significantly inhomogeneous. However, the conventional ABC recombination model assumes that carriers are uniformly distributed throughout the MQW. In this paper, a modified ABC model that considers the unequal carrier density in the QWs was developed. From the analysis of the developed ABC model, the effective recombination coefficients and modified internal quantum efficiency (IQE) were obtained for an arbitrary carrier distribution in MQWs. The efficiency droop was found to be aggravated as the carrier distribution was increasingly inhomogeneous. However, it was also found that the effect of inhomogeneous carrier distribution alone was not sufficient to explain the IQE droop with the theoretical Auger recombination coefficient based on indirect Auger processes. The developed ABC model is expected to provide insight into the influence of inhomogeneous carrier distributions in MQWs on the efficiency droop in GaN-based light-emitting diodes.

The impact of spectra quality on nebular abundances

ABSTRACT I explore the effects of observational errors on nebular chemical abundances using a sample of 179 optical spectra of 42 planetary nebulae (PNe) observed by different authors. The spectra are analysed in a homogeneous way to derive physical conditions and ionic and total abundances. The effects of recombination on the [O ii] and [N ii] emission lines are estimated by including the effective recombination coefficients in the statistical equilibrium equations that are solved for O+ and N+. The results are shown to be significantly different than those derived using previous approaches. The O+ abundances derived with the blue and red lines of [O ii] differ by up to a factor of 6, indicating that the relative intensities of lines widely separated in wavelength can be highly uncertain. In fact, the He ii lines in the range 4000–6800 Å imply that most of the spectra are bluer than expected. Scores are assigned to the spectra using different criteria and the spectrum with the highest score for each PN is taken as the reference spectrum. The differences between the abundances derived with the reference spectrum and those derived with the other spectra available for each object are used to estimate the 1σ observational uncertainties in the final abundances: 0.11 dex for O/H and Ar/H, 0.14 dex for N/H, Ne/H, and Cl/H, and 0.16 dex for S/H.

The effect of electron heating on hydrocarbon plasma decay after high-voltage nanosecond discharge

An experimental study of plasma decay in the afterglow of a high-voltage nanosecond discharge in ethane:argon mixtures was performed under conditions when the mean electron energy significantly exceeded the mean energy of neutral particles at room temperature and pressures from 2 to 10 Torr. Electrons were heated during the plasma decay (i) by retarding electron thermalization through a strong dilution of the hydrocarbon with argon and (ii) by the application of an additional external electric field. Using the microwave interferometer, the temporal evolution of the electron density during plasma decay was studied in the range from 5 × 1010 to 3 × 1012 cm−3. The analysis of the experimental data allowed us to obtain the dependence of the effective recombination coefficients of electrons with hydrocarbon ions on the electron temperature. A simplified kinetic scheme was proposed for the description of electron and ion reactions during the plasma decay for our experimental conditions. Calculations on the basis of this scheme showed that the plasma decay is controlled by the dissociative recombination of molecular and cluster hydrocarbon ions.

Processes controlling properties of high-voltage nanosecond discharge plasma in combustible mixtures

We present the results of the experimental study of high-voltage nanosecond repetitively pulsed discharge and of its afterglow in ethane, dimethyl ether and their mixtures with oxygen. The measurements were made for room temperature and pressures from 2 to 6 Torr. The measured specific deposited energy and mean discharge current varied with the number of voltage pulses monotonously in ethane and dimethyl ether and nonmonotonously in the hydrocarbon:oxygen mixtures. A microwave interferometer was used for time-resolved electron density measurements in the discharge afterglow. The effective recombination coefficients were obtained from the analysis of the measured data. These coefficients varied with the number of voltage pulses monotonously in ethane and peaked in pure dimethyl ether and its mixture with oxygen. Possible mechanisms of the nonmonotonous behavior of the discharge characteristics were discussed.

Photoionization Modeling of Titan's Dayside Ionosphere.

Previous modeling studies of Titan's dayside ionosphere predict electron number densities that are roughly a factor of 2 higher than those observed by the RPWS/Langmuir probe. The issue can equivalently be described as the ratio between the calculated electron production rates and the square of the observed electron number densities resulting in roughly a factor of 4 higher effective recombination coefficient than expected from the ion composition and the electron temperature. Here we make an extended reassessment of Titan's dayside ionization balance, focusing on 34 flybys between TA and T120. Using a recalibrated data set and by taking the presence of negative ions into account, we arrive at lower effective recombination coefficients compared with earlier studies. The values are still higher than expected from the ion composition and the electron temperature, but by a factor of ~2-3 instead of a factor of ~4. We have also investigated whether the derived effective recombination coefficients display dependencies on the solar zenith angle (SZA), the integrated solar EUV intensity (<80 nm), and the corotational plasma ram direction (RAM), and found statistically significant trends, which may be explained by a declining photoionization against the background ionization by magnetospheric particles (trends in SZA and RAM) and altered photochemistry (trend in EUV). We find that a series of flybys that occurred during solar minimum (2008) and with similar flyby geometries are associated with enhanced values of the effective recombination coefficient compared with the remaining data set, which also suggests a chemistry dependence on the sunlight conditions.

The effect of fuel oxidation on plasma decay in combustible mixtures excited by high-voltage nanosecond repetitively pulsed discharge

The results of the experimental study of high-voltage nanosecond repetitively pulsed discharge afterglow in propane:O2, ethane:O2 and H2:O2 mixtures were presented for room temperature and pressures from 2 to 6 Torr. Time-resolved electron density during the plasma decay was measured using a microwave interferometer for initial electron densities in the range between 3 × 1011 and 3 × 1012 cm−3 and the effective recombination coefficients were obtained. In hydrocarbon-containing mixtures, the rate of plasma decay varied nonmonotonously with the oxidation degree increase. The effective recombination coefficient (i) peaked when the amount of intermediate species was expected to be high and (ii) was independent of the number of voltage pulses (the effect of saturation) when oxidation was complete. In H2:O2 mixtures, the rate of plasma decay and the effective recombination coefficient increased monotonously with increasing oxidation degree. It was shown that plasma decay in completely oxidized fuel:O2 mixtures is close to that in water vapor. It was suggested that the nonmonotonous behavior of the effective recombination coefficient during plasma decay in hydrocarbon:O2 mixtures is explained by the production of some hydrocarbon intermediates in the oxidation processes that can favor plasma decay. The possible mechanisms of plasma decay acceleration in the oxidized mixtures were discussed.

Экспериментальное определение эффективных коэффициентов рекомбинации в D-области ионосферы высоких широт во время солнечных затмений по данным метода частичных отражений

Экспериментальное определение эффективных коэффициентов рекомбинации в D-области ионосферы высоких широт во время солнечных затмений по данным метода частичных отражений

Testing atomic collision theory with the two-photon continuum of astrophysical nebulae

Accurate rates for energy-degenerate l-changing collisions are needed to determine cosmological abundances and recombination. There are now several competing theories for the treatment of this process, and it is not possible to test these experimentally. We show that the H I two-photon continuum produced by astrophysical nebulae is strongly affected by l-changing collisions. We perform an analysis of the different underlying atomic processes and simulate the recombination and two-photon spectrum of a nebula containing H and He. We provide an extended set of effective recombination coefficients and updated l-changing 2s-2p transition rates using several competing theories. In principle, accurate astronomical observations could determine which theory is correct.

Kinetic mechanism of plasma recombination in methane, ethane and propane after high-voltage nanosecond discharge

The results of the experimental and numerical study of high-voltage nanosecond discharge afterglow in pure methane, ethane and propane are presented for room temperature and pressures from 2 to 20 Torr. Time-resolved electron density during the plasma decay was measured with a microwave interferometer for initial electron densities in the range between 5 × 1010 and 3 × 1012 cm−3 and the effective recombination coefficients were obtained. Measured effective recombination coefficients increased with gas pressure and were much higher than the recombination coefficients for simple molecular hydrocarbon ions. The properties of plasma in the discharge afterglow were numerically simulated by solving the balance equations for charged particles and electron temperature. Calculations showed that electrons had time to thermalize prior to the recombination. The measured data were interpreted under the assumption that cluster hydrocarbon ions are formed during the plasma decay that is controlled by the dissociative electron recombination with these ions at electron room temperature. Based on the analysis of the experimental data, the rates of three-body formation of cluster ions and recombination coefficients for these ions were estimated.

Very Large Telescope deep echelle spectroscopy of Galactic planetary nebulae NGC 6153, M 1-42 and Hf 2-2

We present deep spectroscopy of three Galactic planetary nebulae (PNe) with large abundance discrepancy factors (ADFs): NGC6153, M1-42 and Hf2-2. The spectra were obtained with VLT/UVES and cover the whole optical range (3040-11,000 A) with a spectral resolution of ~20,000. For all three PNe, several hundred emission lines were detected and identified, with more than 70 per cent of them as permitted lines. Most of these permitted lines are excited by recombination. Numerous weak optical recombination lines (ORLs) of O II, C II, N II and Ne II were detected in the spectra and accurate fluxes measured. Line flux tables were compiled and ready for use by the community of nebular astrophysics. These ORLs were critically analyzed using the effective recombination coefficients recently calculated for the optical recombination spectrum of N II and O II under the physical conditions of photoionized gaseous nebulae. Plasma diagnostics based on the heavy element ORLs were carried out using the new atomic data. Elemental abundances derived from the ORLs were systematically higher than those derived from the collisionally excited lines (CELs) by a factor of ~10, 22 and 80 for NGC6153, M1-42 and Hf2-2, respectively. The electron temperatures derived from the heavy element ORLs are systematically lower than those derived from the CELs. These ORL versus CEL abundance and temperature discrepancies, previously observed in the three PNe through deep spectroscopy with medium to low spectral resolution, are thus confirmed by our analysis of the deep echelle spectra using the new atomic data.

Influence of water vapour on the height distribution of positive ions, effective recombination coefficient and ionisation balance in the quiet lower ionosphere

Abstract. Mesospheric water vapour concentration effects on the ion composition and electron density in the lower ionosphere under quiet geophysical conditions were examined. Water vapour is an important compound in the mesosphere and the lower thermosphere that affects ion composition due to hydrogen radical production and consequently modifies the electron number density. Recent lower-ionosphere investigations have primarily concentrated on the geomagnetic disturbance periods. Meanwhile, studies on the electron density under quiet conditions are quite rare. The goal of this study is to contribute to a better understanding of the ionospheric parameter responses to water vapour variability in the quiet lower ionosphere. By applying a numerical D region ion chemistry model, we evaluated efficiencies for the channels forming hydrated cluster ions from the NO+ and O2+ primary ions (i.e. NO+.H2O and O2+.H2O, respectively), and the channel forming H+(H2O)n proton hydrates from water clusters at different altitudes using profiles with low and high water vapour concentrations. Profiles for positive ions, effective recombination coefficients and electrons were modelled for three particular cases using electron density measurements obtained during rocket campaigns. It was found that the water vapour concentration variations in the mesosphere affect the position of both the Cl2+ proton hydrate layer upper border, comprising the NO+(H2O)n and O2+(H2O)n hydrated cluster ions, and the Cl1+ hydrate cluster layer lower border, comprising the H+(H2O)n pure proton hydrates, as well as the numerical cluster densities. The water variations caused large changes in the effective recombination coefficient and electron density between altitudes of 75 and 87 km. However, the effective recombination coefficient, αeff, and electron number density did not respond even to large water vapour concentration variations occurring at other altitudes in the mesosphere. We determined the water vapour concentration upper limit at altitudes between 75 and 87 km, beyond which the water vapour concentration ceases to influence the numerical densities of Cl2+ and Cl1+, the effective recombination coefficient and the electron number density in the summer ionosphere. This water vapour concentration limit corresponds to values found in the H2O-1 profile that was observed in the summer mesosphere by the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS). The electron density modelled using the H2O-1 profile agreed well with the electron density measured in the summer ionosphere when the measured profiles did not have sharp gradients. For sharp gradients in electron and positive ion number densities, a water profile that can reproduce the characteristic behaviour of the ionospheric parameters should have an inhomogeneous height distribution of water vapour.

Response of the Earth’s lower ionosphere to the Ground Level Enhancement event of December 13, 2006

In this study we analyze the Ground Level Enhancement Event No 70 observed on December 13, 2006, by correlating the observations from two research topics: Cosmic rays and Very Low Frequency (VLF<30kHz) wave propagation, as two ground based techniques for the detection of solar proton events, and their impact on the lower ionosphere. The observations have been endorsed from recordings of worldwide network ground based Neutron Monitors as well as by satellite data from the satellites GOES 12 (www.swpc.noaa.gov) and Pamela (www.pamela.roma2infn.it).We have evaluated the ionization rate for protons in the altitude range relevant to VLF propagation, and for galactic cosmic ray (GCR) background, finding that at energies up to ∼2GeV the ionization rate of solar protons exceeded the GCR ionization by 1.5 orders of magnitude.We have applied the Long Wave Propagation Capability (LWPC) code to evaluate the enhancement of the electron density from VLF signal perturbation and have inferred corresponding electron densities from the evaluated ionization rates and effective recombination coefficients from literature, to find the two independent sets in good agreement.

Interpretation of Optoelectronic Transient and Charge Extraction Measurements in Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells

Tools that assess the limitations of dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) made with new materials are critical for progress. Measuring the transient electrical signals (voltage or current) after optically perturbing a DSSC is an approach which can give information about electron concentration, transport and recombination. Here we describe the theory and practice of this class of optoelectronic measurements, illustrated with numerous examples. The measurements are interpreted with the multiple trapping continuum model which describes electrons in a semiconductor with an exponential distribution of trapping states. We review standard small perturbation photocurrent and photovoltage transients, and introduce the photovoltage time of flight measurement which allows the simultaneous derivation of both effective diffusion and recombination coefficients. We then consider the utility of large perturbation measurements such as charge extraction and the current interrupt technique for finding the internal charge and voltage within a device. Combining these measurements allows differences between DSSCs to be understood in terms such as electron collection efficiency, semiconductor conduction band edge shifts and recombination kinetics.

New effective recombination coefficients for nebular N ii lines(Corrigendum)

Errors in the computed effective recombination coefficients for nebular N ii lines in an earlier publication (Fang et al. 2011) have been discovered and are here corrected. Those errors were not due to the basic atomic physics (i.e. creation of the N2+ target and the target wave functions, and calculations of bound-state energies, oscillator strengths and photoionization cross-sections for the N ii states) but due to mislabeling of five N ii bound-state energy levels. The 2p3p P1 level was originally labeled as 2p3p S1, the 2p3p S1 level was labeled as 2p3p P1, and the 2p3p P1 level was labeled as 2p3p P1; labels of the 2p3d D2 and 2p3d D2 levels were swapped. As a consequence, the effective recombination coefficients for the N ii lines that are directly related to the above five states were incorrect. We have corrected the labeling of the N ii energy levels and re-calculated the effective recombination coefficients for the N ii lines at the same electron temperature and density ranges as in Fang et al. (2011). The newly calculated effective recombination coefficients are given in Tables 3–6.

Very deep spectroscopy of the bright Saturn nebula NGC 7009 – II. Analysis of the rich optical recombination spectrum

[Abridged] We present a critical analysis of the rich optical recombination spectrum of NGC 7009, in the context of the bi-abundance nebular model proposed by Liu et al. (2000). The observed relative intensities are compared with the theoretical predictions based on high quality effective recombination coefficients, now available for the recombination line spectrum of a number of heavy element ions. The possibility of plasma diagnostics using the optical recombination lines (ORLs) of heavy element ions is discussed in detail. Plasma diagnostics based on the N II and O II recombination spectra both yield electron temperatures close to 1000 K, which is lower than those derived from the collisionally excited line (CEL) ratios by nearly one order of magnitude. The very low temperatures yielded by the O II and N II ORLs indicate that they originate from very cold regions. The C^{2+}/H^+, N^{2+}/H^+, O^{2+}/H^+ and Ne^{2+}/H^+ ionic abundance ratios derived from ORLs are consistently higher, by about a factor of 5, than the corresponding values derived from CELs. In calculating the ORL ionic abundance ratios, we have used the newly available high quality effective recombination coefficients, and adopted an electron temperature of 1000 K, as given by the ORL diagnostics and as a consequence presumably representing the physical conditions prevailing in the regions where the heavy element ORLs arise. A comparison of the results of plasma diagnostics and abundance determinations for NGC 7009 points to the existence of "cold", metal-rich (i.e. H-deficient) inclusions embedded in the hot, diffuse ionized gas, first postulated by Liu et al. (2000).

Plasma diagnostics for planetary nebulae and H ii regions using the N ii and O ii optical recombination lines

We carry out plasma diagnostic analyses for 123 planetary nebulae (PNe) and 42 H II regions using the N II and O II optical recombination lines (ORLs). New effective recombination coefficients for the N II and O II optical recombination spectra are used. These data were calculated under the intermediate coupling scheme for a number of electron temperature (Te) and density (Ne) cases. We used a new method to determine the Te and Ne for the nebular sample, combining the ORLs with the most reliable measurements for each ion and the predicted intensities that are based on the new atomic data. Uncertainties of the derived Te and Ne are estimated for each object. The diagnostic results from heavy element ORLs show reasonable agreement with previous calculations in the literature. We compare the electron temperatures derived from the N II and O II ORLs, Te(ORLs), and those from the collisionally excited lines (CELs), Te(CELs), as well as the hydrogen Balmer jump, Te(H I BJ), especially for the PNe with large abundance discrepancies. Temperatures from He I recombination lines, Te(He I), are also used for comparison if available. For all the objects included in our sample, Te(ORLs) are lower than Te(H I BJ), which are in turn systematically lower than Te(CELs). Nebulae with Te(He I) available show the relation Te(ORLs) < Te(He I) < Te(H I BJ) < Te(CELs), which is consistent with predictions from the bi-abundance nebular model postulated by Liu et al. (2000).

Improved He I emissivities in the case B approximation

Abstract We update our prior work on the case B collisional-recombination spectrum of He i to incorporate ab initio photoionization cross-sections. This large set of accurate, self-consistent cross-sections represents a significant improvement in He i emissivity calculations because it largely obviates the piecemeal nature that has marked all modern works. A second, more recent set of ab initio cross-sections is also available, but we show that those are less consistent with bound-bound transition probabilities than our adopted set. We compare our new effective recombination coefficients with our prior work and our new emissivities with those by other researchers, and we conclude with brief remarks on the effects of the present work on the He i error budget. Our calculations cover temperatures 5000 ≤ Te 25 000 K and densities 101 ≤ ne ≤ 1014 cm−3. Full results are available online (see Supporting Information).