Improved Ionization Potential Depression Model Incorporating Dynamical Structure Factors and Electron Degeneracy for Non-Ideal Plasma Composition
Seitkozhanov Y. Dzhumagulova K. Shalenov E.
March 2025Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)
Entropy
2025#27Issue 3
In this work, we present an improved model for ionization potential depression (IPD) in dense plasmas that builds upon the approach introduced by Lin et al., which utilizes a dynamical structure factor (SF) to account for ionic microfield fluctuations. The main refinements include the following: (1) replacing the Wigner–Seitz radius with an ion-sphere radius, thereby treating individual ionization events as dynamically independent; (2) incorporating electron degeneracy through a tailored interpolation between Debye–Hückel and Thomas–Fermi screening lengths. Additionally, we solve the Saha equation iteratively, ensuring self-consistent determination of the ionization balance and IPD corrections. These modifications yield significantly improved agreement with recent high-density and high-temperature experimental data on warm dense aluminum, especially in regimes where strong coupling and partial degeneracy are crucial. The model remains robust over a broad parameter space, spanning temperatures from 1 eV up to 1 keV and pressures beyond the Mbar range, thus making it suitable for applications in high-energy-density physics, inertial confinement fusion, and astrophysical plasma research. Our findings underscore the importance of accurately capturing ion microfield fluctuations and electron quantum effects to properly describe ionization processes in extreme environments.
dynamical structure factor , high-energy-density physics , ionization potential depression , Mott transition , non-ideal plasma , plasma composition , Saha equation , strongly coupled plasma
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Department of General Physics, Satbayev University, Almaty, 050013, Kazakhstan
Department of Plasma Physics, Nanotechnology and Computer Physics, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, 050040, Kazakhstan
Institute of Experimental and Theoretical Physics, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, 050040, Kazakhstan
Department of General Physics
Department of Plasma Physics
Institute of Experimental and Theoretical Physics
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