The Influence of Hot Electrons on the Calculation of Ionization Rates

Abstract

Electron-Impact Ionization (EII) is considered one of the most important ionization methods in dynamic systems, in which elements and ions are suddenly exposed to energetic electrons. In many plasma types, it has been observed that some electrons (hot) are governed by a non-Maxwellian energy distribution. This study illustrates the effects of a non-Maxwellian distribution on beryllium and Be+2 emission lines and their effective ionization rate coefficients. The focus on beryllium as an impacted material by electron flux aimed to evaluate the EII rates for Be and generate the corresponding datasets needed for Be+2 data analysis. An interaction cross-section was generated using the Flexible Atomic Code (FAC) and used in the estimation of the EII distribution energy functions to estimate the ionization rates for a non-Maxwellian distribution. The use of non-Maxwellian energy distributions for different fractions of hot electrons showed the sensitivity of these rates to the fraction of hot electrons and the forms of the electron energy distribution. The results were in good agreement with those found in the literature.