Direct measurements of the ionization potential depression in a dense plasma

Phys Rev Lett. 2012 Aug 10;109(6):065002. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.065002. Epub 2012 Aug 6.

Abstract

We have used the Linac Coherent Light Source to generate solid-density aluminum plasmas at temperatures of up to 180 eV. By varying the photon energy of the x rays that both create and probe the plasma, and observing the K-α fluorescence, we can directly measure the position of the K edge of the highly charged ions within the system. The results are found to disagree with the predictions of the extensively used Stewart-Pyatt model, but are consistent with the earlier model of Ecker and Kröll, which predicts significantly greater depression of the ionization potential.