Ionization rate coefficients in warm dense plasmas

Abstract

We recast the atomic processes in a warm, dense plasma using Fermi-Dirac statistics and compare them to the rates of the usual Maxwell-Boltzmann approach of many collisional-radiative models. Population calculations show insignificant differences to calculations assuming nondegenerate free electrons of plasmas at solid density close to local thermodynamic equilibrium, but show departures in average ionization in the presence of strong photoionization. For example, we show that electron degeneracy affects the evolution of plasmas created by ultraviolet free electron laser interaction with solid targets.