Non L.T.E. Properties of Quasistationary Oxygen Plasmas

Abstract

The non L.T.E. (local thermodynamic equilibrium) properties of optically thin and thick quasistationary oxygen plasmas have been calculated for the temperature range k T = 0.5 - 1.5 eV and for the electron density interval 108 - 1016 cm-3 , by using the collisional-radiative model of Bates, Kingston and McWhirther. The results include1 the coefficients r0(i) and r1(i), which represent the contribution to the population density of the ith quantum level from the continuum and from the ground state, respectively2 the values of α and S, which are the collisional-radiative recombination and ionization coefficients, respectively. The accuracy of the present results is discussed in connection with the adopted plasma model and with the selection of the collisional cross sections for forbidden and allowed transitions. A discussion is also presented of the influence of the two low lying excited states of oxygen atoms (i.e. the states 2p4 1D, 2p4 1S) on the non L.T.E. properties of these plasmas. A satisfactory agreement is found with the calculations of Julienne et al. and with the experimental results of Jones.