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 recombination in such plasmas should be treated using the particle model since the usual concept of a rate constant is not applicable in nonequilibrium. A particle model is proposed for the simulation of ionization and three-body recombination in fully ionized plasmas of Li³⁺. The nonequilibrium rate constant is defined and calculated using the cross section for reactive collision, which is derived from the equilibrium rate constant using the inverse Laplace transform. The use of the model, together with the Coulomb collision simulation makes it possible to examine the relaxation of the electron energy distribution in nonequilibrium systems.