Electron Impact Ionization Close to the Threshold: Classical Calculations

In this paper we present Classical Trajectory Monte Carlo (CTMC) calculations for single and multiple electron ionization of Argon atoms and ions in the threshold region. We are able to recover the Wannier exponents a for the power-law behavior of the cross section s versus excess energy: the exact value of the exponent as well as the existence of its saturation for multiple ionization appear to be related to how the total binding energy is shared between target electrons.Comment: 9 pages. To be published in Journal of Physics

Laboratory simulation of cometary x rays using a high-resolution microcalorimeter

X-ray emission following charge exchange has been studied on the University of California Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory electron beam ion traps EBIT-I and EBIT-II using a high-resolution microcalorimeter. The measured spectra include the K-shell emission from hydrogenlike and heliumlike C, N, O, and Ne needed for simulations of cometary x-ray emission. A comparison of the spectra produced in the interaction of O8+ with N2 and CH4 is presented that illustrates the dependence of the observed spectrum on the interaction gas.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figure

Status of the heavy ion beam probe system in the Large Helical Device

A heavy ion beam probe (HIBP) system has been installed into the Large Helical Device (LHD) to measure the spatial profile of the plasma potential and density fluctuations. The optimization of the HIBP system, especially the beam injector, is described. The negative ion beam is required for the MeV beam production in a tandem accelerator. A sputter-type heavy negative ion source has been developed as an intense Au^? beam source to produce Au^+ beams with energy in the MeV range. The extraction electrodes and the Einzel lens system of the ion source have been designed taking into account the beam optics, and installed into the real machine. Throughout the plasma diagnostics on LHD experiments, the consumptions of vaporized caesium and gold target are being characterized for practical operations. In addition, the experimental charge fractions are compared with the theoretical fractions for understanding the charge-changing behavior of Au^? ions and optimizing the fraction of Au^+ ions at the exit of the tandem accelerator of the HIBP syste

Selective excitation of metastable atomic states by femto- and attosecond laser pulses

The possibility of achieving highly selective excitation of low metastable states of hydrogen and helium atoms by using short laser pulses with reasonable parameters is demonstrated theoretically. Interactions of atoms with the laser field are studied by solving the close-coupling equations without discretization. The parameters of laser pulses are calculated using different kinds of optimization procedures. For the excitation durations of hundreds of femtoseconds direct optimization of the parameters of one and two laser pulses with Gaussian envelopes is used to introduce a number of simple schemes of selective excitation. To treat the case of shorter excitation durations, optimal control theory is used and the calculated optimal fields are approximated by sequences of pulses with reasonable shapes. A new way to achieve selective excitation of metastable atomic states by using sequences of attosecond pulses is introduced.Comment: To be published in Phys. Rev. A, 10 pages, 3 figure

Electron Loss Cross Sections for a Heavy Ion Beam Probe

Electron loss cross sections of Au+ and Au2+ by electron and proton impact are calculated by using respectively the Lotz formula and the LOSS and CAPTURE computer codes. The corresponding rate coefficients have also been calculated. Using this information, the signal levels of heavy ion beam probe in the Large Helical Device are estimated. The calculated beam currents at the detector position are compared with the detected beamcurrents in the MeV energy range for a plasma electron density of 1 × 1019 m?3 and electron temperature of 1.5 keV. The obtained cross section / rate coefficient data can also be used for reconstruction of electron density and temperature profiles

Ionization of hydrogen and hydrogenic ions by antiprotons

Presented here is a description of the ionization of hydrogen and hydrogenic ions by antiproton-impact, based on very large scale numerical solutions of the time-dependent Schr\"odinger equation in three spatial dimensions and on analysis of the topology of the electronic eigenenergy surfaces in the plane of complex internuclear distance. Comparison is made with other theories and very recent measurements.Comment: RevTex document, 11 pages, 4 Postscript figures are available from the authors, in press Phys. Rev. Let