The dynamic evolution of ionization, three-body and radiative recombination processes in high intensity laser ion acceleration mechanisms, has been studied. For that, the expansion of a collisional thin plasma slab in vacuum is modeled using mixture hydrodynamic fluids equations for ions and neutral atoms, in the presence of fast nonthermal and slow trapped electrons, obeying a Cairns-Gurevich distribution. In addition, the characteristics of ion front acceleration and ion gained energy profiles are obtained, for three types of accelerated ions (H
+, C
+ and Al
+). It is proved that, ionization and recombination processes are responsible for the energy transfer between plasma particles. These processes are also strongly influenced by the impact of electron nonthermal phenomena, generated by the interaction of an intense laser pulse with the target. On the other hand, parametric studies have proved that ion energy profiles, maximum electric fields and ion energies at the ion front acceleration are also significantly affected by these phenomena. This study is useful in applications involving the creation of energetic ion beams, such as protontherapy.
A self-similar multi-fluid model is performed to describe ion acceleration in singly ionized plasma with nonthermal electrons, where ionization and recombination are considered. It is found that ion acceleration in plasma expansion is strongly influenced by the competition of ionization and recombination processes under different nonthermal effects, at electron temperatures, and for various target materials. Two phases of expansion are shown in the profiles. The first one is the strongest collisional dense plasma that is created, spreading smoothly into vacuum near the surface of the target, with low slopes in all ion expansion profiles. The second is the core or the central phase of expansion dominated by recombination processes, with steep slopes up to the expansion front position, where the ion velocities and the electric field amplitude have reached their maximum values. The limit of expansion is determined where the ion density and electric field vanish. The interest of such a study may concern the dynamics of ionization and recombination processes in laser-plasma acceleration where nonthermal, energetic electrons are present.
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