Laser ionization based on resonance saturation—a simple model description

Abstract

We have developed a simple physical model of laser ionization based on resonance saturation that involves the most important collisional and radiative interactions, yet lends itself to analytical solutions that enable the time history of the free electron density to be evaluated. We have been able to demonstrate that in the case of sodium the predictions of this simple model are within 15% of the values calculated by our extensive LIBORS computer code. The model has also been used to estimate the ionization time for each of the alkali metals over a wide range of conditions. These results are found to be consistent with several experimental observations.