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A comparison of recombination and photo-pumping mechanisms for producing hydrogen-like Balmer alpha gain
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 March 2009
Abstract
A comparison of the recombination and photo-pumping approaches for producing X-ray lasing on the hydrogen-like Balmer alpha line is presented. An approximate analytic expression for the ratio of the populations of the n = 3 and 2 quantum states of the hydrogen-like ion is derived and used to delineate the plasma parameter space where Balmer alpha gain can occur in a recombining plasma. The photo-pumping intensities required to produce Balmer alpha gain for plasmas initially in the steadystate are calculated using a collisional-radiative code and compared to intensities required to produce the initial plasmas for a recombination Balmer alpha laser with comparable gain. The recombination approach becomes relatively more efficient compared to the photo-pumping approach with increasing atomic number Z of the hydrogen-like ion with an estimated break-even at approximately Z = 16.
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- Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985
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