Plasma ionization and resistivity models for low-, mid- and higher-atomic number plasmas and their applications to radiative properties of z-pinches

The LTE Saha-Boltzmann plasma ionization balance model and the Braginskii plasma electric resistance model are compared with the results by a suite of codes based on the average-atom model, which is a quantum-mechanical version of the Temperature Dependent Thomas-Fermi Theory. The analysis is focused on low-Z Al, mid-Z Cu and higher-Z Mo plasmas over broad ranges of electron temperature T-e and electron number density tie. Calculations of mean ion charge by these two LTE models are compared to the results produced by non-LTE atomic kinetic codes. The applicability of the LTE and non-LTE models to the description of the radiative properties of highly-radiating z-pinch plasmas is also discussed. Two different approaches to the calculation of plasma resistance and their effects on line radiation mechanisms are analyzed. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.