Plasma recombination
Encyclopedia
Plasma recombination is a process by which ion
s of a plasma
capture the free energetic electron
s to form new neutral atom
s.
Recombination usually take place in the whole volume of a plasma (volume recombination), although in some cases it is confined to some special region of it. Each kind of reaction is called a recombining mode and their individual rates are strongly affected by the properties of the plasma such as its energy (heat), density of each species, pressure and temperature of the surrounding environment. Especially volume recombination is a very unlikely process at pressures below 1×104 Pa because of the conservation of energy and momentum. A third body is needed to satisfy the conservation laws. If the volume of the plasma is confined by a body the walls play the role of the third body. So recombination mostly occurs at the walls.
Hydrogen
recombination modes are of vital importance in the development of divertor regions for tokamak
reactors. In fact they will provide a good way for extracting the energy produced in the core of the plasma. At the present time, it is believed that the most likely plasma losses observed in the recombining region are due to two different modes: electron ion recombination (EIR) and molecular activated recombination (MAR).
Ion
An ion is an atom or molecule in which the total number of electrons is not equal to the total number of protons, giving it a net positive or negative electrical charge. The name was given by physicist Michael Faraday for the substances that allow a current to pass between electrodes in a...
s of a plasma
Plasma (physics)
In physics and chemistry, plasma is a state of matter similar to gas in which a certain portion of the particles are ionized. Heating a gas may ionize its molecules or atoms , thus turning it into a plasma, which contains charged particles: positive ions and negative electrons or ions...
capture the free energetic electron
Electron
The electron is a subatomic particle with a negative elementary electric charge. It has no known components or substructure; in other words, it is generally thought to be an elementary particle. An electron has a mass that is approximately 1/1836 that of the proton...
s to form new neutral atom
Atom
The atom is a basic unit of matter that consists of a dense central nucleus surrounded by a cloud of negatively charged electrons. The atomic nucleus contains a mix of positively charged protons and electrically neutral neutrons...
s.
Recombination usually take place in the whole volume of a plasma (volume recombination), although in some cases it is confined to some special region of it. Each kind of reaction is called a recombining mode and their individual rates are strongly affected by the properties of the plasma such as its energy (heat), density of each species, pressure and temperature of the surrounding environment. Especially volume recombination is a very unlikely process at pressures below 1×104 Pa because of the conservation of energy and momentum. A third body is needed to satisfy the conservation laws. If the volume of the plasma is confined by a body the walls play the role of the third body. So recombination mostly occurs at the walls.
Hydrogen
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
recombination modes are of vital importance in the development of divertor regions for tokamak
Tokamak
A tokamak is a device using a magnetic field to confine a plasma in the shape of a torus . Achieving a stable plasma equilibrium requires magnetic field lines that move around the torus in a helical shape...
reactors. In fact they will provide a good way for extracting the energy produced in the core of the plasma. At the present time, it is believed that the most likely plasma losses observed in the recombining region are due to two different modes: electron ion recombination (EIR) and molecular activated recombination (MAR).