Publications Details

X-ray heating and electron temperature of laboratory photoionized plasmas

Mancini, R.C.; Lockard, T.E.; Mayes, D.C.; Hall, I.M.; Loisel, G.P.; Bailey, James E.; Rochau, G.A.; Abdallah, J.; Golovkin, I.E.; Liedahl, D.

We discuss the experimental and modeling results for the x-ray heating and temperature of laboratory photoionized plasmas. A method is used to extract the electron temperature based on the analysis of transmission spectroscopy data that is independent of atomic kinetics modeling. The results emphasized the critical role of x-ray heating and radiation cooling in determining the energy balance of the plasma. They also demonstrated the dramatic impact of photoexcitation on excited-state populations, line emissivity, and radiation cooling. Modeling calculations performed with astrophysical codes significantly overestimated the measured temperature.