Particle modeling of ionization and three-body recombination in fully ionized plasmas

In optical field ionized (OFI) plasmas, the electron energy distribution is highly deviated from equilibrium distribution; ionization and recombinatio n in such plasmas should be treated using the particle model since the usua l concept of a rare constant is not applicable in nonequilibrium. A particl e model is proposed for the simulation of ionization and three-body recombi nation in fully ionized plasmas of Li3+. The nonequilibrium rate constant i s defined and calculated using the cross section for reactive collision, wh ich is derived from the equilibrium rate constant using the inverse Laplace transform. The use of the model, together with the Coulomb collision simul ation, makes it possible to examine the relaxation of the electron energy d istribution in nonequilibrium systems.