Observation of trielectronic recombination in Be-like Cl ions

Hypersatellite Kα Production in Trapped Ar Ions at KK Trielectronic Recombination Energies

We report measurements of hypersatellite radiation of argon ions in the electron energy region of 5200 eV to 7500 eV. Here, we observed a strong enhancement of this hypersatellite Kαh production. Trielectronic recombination (TR) is discussed as a possible channel for Kαh production leading to this enhancement where main TR resonances are expected to occur. Data analysis was mainly based on the extracted intensity ratio of hypersatellite Kαh to Kα lines (Kαh/Kα). In addition, the collisional excitation and the collisional ionisation of the K-shell ions were modeled as main background processes of the Kα X-ray production. The Kαh/Kα intensity ratio shows a significant rise around 6500 eV electron energy by a factor of about two above the background level. This observation is compared with calculations of the expected electron energies for the resonant Kαh emission due to the KK TR process. The observed rise as a function of the electron collision energy, which occurs in the vicinity of the predicted TR resonances, is significantly stronger and energetically much wider than the results of theoretical calculations for the TR process. However, the experimental evidence of this process is not definitive.

Higher-Order Recombination Processes in Argon Ions Observed via X-ray Emission in an EBIT

In electron–ion collisions, recombination processes play a very important role. Recently, multielectron recombination processes have been highly investigated, as they carry information about electron–electron interaction. Among them, the most basic process is dielectronic recombination (DR). The research presented here was conducted using an EBIT at Jagiellonian University. Using X-ray spectroscopy, we conducted research into K-LL, K-LM, K-LN, K-LO and K-MM resonances. The aim of this study was to investigate the contribution of the intershell higher-order recombination processes in collected spectra. A good resolution for the K-LL DR spectrum made it possible to distinguish structures for He- up to C-like Ar ions.

Strong higher-order resonant contributions to x-ray line polarization in hot plasmas

We studied angular distributions of x rays emitted in resonant recombination of highly charged iron and krypton ions, resolving dielectronic, trielectronic, and quadruelectronic channels. A tunable electron beam drove these processes, inducing x rays registered by two detectors mounted along and perpendicular to the beam axis. The measured emission asymmetries comprehensively benchmarked full-order atomic calculations. We conclude that accurate polarization diagnostics of hot plasmas can only be obtained under the premise of inclusion of higher-order processes that were neglected in earlier work.

Observation of a four-electron Auger process in near-K-edge photoionization of singly charged carbon ions

Single, double, and triple ionization of C(1+) ions by single photons is investigated in the energy range of 286-326 eV, i.e., in the range from the lowest-energy K-vacancy resonances to well beyond the K-shell ionization threshold. Clear signatures of C(1+)(1s2s(2)2p(2) (2)D,(2)P) resonances are found in the triple-ionization channel. The only possible mechanism producing C(4+)(1s(2)) via these resonances is direct triple-Auger decay, i.e., a four-electron process with simultaneous emission of three electrons.

Prominent higher-order contributions to electronic recombination

Intershell higher-order (HO) electronic recombination is reported for highly charged Ar, Fe, and Kr ions, where simultaneous excitation of one K-shell electron and one or two additional L-shell electrons occurs upon resonant capture of a free electron. For the mid-Z region, HO resonance strengths grow unexpectedly strong with decreasing atomic number Z (∝Z(-4)), such that, for Ar ions the 2nd-order overwhelms the 1st-order resonant recombination considerably. The experimental findings are confirmed by multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock calculations including hitherto neglected excitation pathways.

Effect of target polarization in electron-ion recombination

We present results of a study of the effect of target polarization on electron-ion recombination, and show that coherent radiation by the target electrons gives a large contribution to the recombination rate. It significantly modifies the nonresonant photorecombination background. A procedure has been devised whereby this contribution can be evaluated together with the conventional radiative recombination, independently of the dielectronic recombination component. Numerical results are presented for Zn2+, Cd2+, Sn4+, and Xe8+, showing up to an order-of-magnitude enhancement.